“Militant” and “Pretentious” Lewis Hamilton Faces Ghosts of the Past as Andretti’s F1 Entry Gets Approved

For a while now, Formula 1’s bosses have been a little opposed to the idea of new teams joining the sport. In 2022, though, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem opened the doors for new teams with a new team candidate process. Since then, Andretti Global—under the leadership of Michael Andretti—has been gearing up to be the first new entrant. With its recent partnership with General Motors and Cadillac, Andretti is building a true American bid. The recent developments in that bid might not bode well for Lewis Hamilton.

The Concorde Agreement is a contract between the FIA, FOM, and the F1 teams that decides how the sport is run and how the prize money is distributed. As per the latest agreement, up to 12 teams can participate in F1. All 10 existing ones are opposed to the idea of more entrants, mainly because that’d reduce prize money. Hamilton, though, has a different reason for not being too open to Andretti.

Andretti Sr. isn’t necessarily in the good books of Lewis Hamilton

“Andretti Formula Racing LLC’s bid to enter Formula 1 has been approved.” This has been going around since the FIA gave Andretti the green light last night. When a team puts up an entry bid, the FIA assesses the application based on sporting, technical, and financial regulations. As reported by BBC, in a statement by the FIA, Ben Sulayem said, “Our objective was to only approve prospective entries that satisfied the set criteria. The FIA is obliged to approve applications that comply with the expressions of interest application requirements.”

Andretti may have convinced the FIA, but Hamilton might still oppose its bid. The thing is, the seven-time champion doesn’t have a problem with Andretti, the brand. He may have a grudge against Andretti, the person. And it isn’t Michael Andretti. It’s his father—one of the most successful races in history—Mario Andretti. When the Black Lives Matter movement started in 2020, Hamilton—as the only Black driver in F1—understandably advocated the movement and urged other drivers to join him. 

In an interview with El Mercurio, as quoted by Sky Sports, Andretti Sr. said, “I have a lot of respect for Lewis, but why become a militant? He’s always been accepted, and he’s earned everyone’s respect. I think the whole point of this is pretentious. I feel that way. And it’s creating a problem that doesn’t exist.” Hamilton has fought for diversity in motorsport for a long time. So when Andretti said this, he couldn’t just sit back and listen. Hamilton responded, “This is plain ignorance, but that will not stop me from continuing to push for change. It is never too late to learn, and I hope that this man, whom I’ve always had respect for, can take the time to educate himself.”

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While it’s Mario Andretti’s son leading the charge for Andretti’s bid, Hamilton would hope that if Andretti does enter F1 as the 11th team, it would have better ideals than its founder’s father. Andretti Racing might’ve cleared FIA’s scrutiny, but its biggest hurdle lies ahead.

Will Andretti make it into F1?

Getting the green light from the FIA was only the first step to Andretti’s potential entry into F1. The next—and most important—hurdle is getting the go-ahead from F1 itself. Andretti has proven it has all the necessary technical, sporting, and financial criteria. But since Liberty Media took over F1, one of its main focuses has been the sport’s commercialization. So, as a team, Andretti must now prove its commercial value to F1.

After Ben Sulayem opened the door for new teams, Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media, gave his thoughts. He said, “In the right set of circumstances, we would work to get the 11th team. Somebody who could bring a lot of value to the sport, a lot of value to the fans.” That’s F1’s primary criteria: does Andretti add any value to F1 and its fans? As reported by Sportstar, F1’s statement after FIA’s approval said, “We note the FIA’s conclusions in relation to the first and second phases of their process and will now conduct our own assessment of the merits of the remaining application.”

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Whether or not Lewis Hamilton is happy with Andretti, there’s no denying the team is one step closer to an F1 entry. Even so, it has a long way to go. Do you want to see an 11th team in F1?