American F1 Civil War Ensues as “Mediocre” Haas Encounters Hostile Andretti Threat

For the longest time, or at least after the Liberty Media takeover and F1’s popularity skyrocketed, the American audience has been longing for a team they can call their own. The American fans are also longing for a driver they can get behind and root for. However, the current grid serve both purposes for the fans, or does it?  The only American representatives on the grid are Guenther Steiner-led Haas and in terms of the driver, Logan Sargeant. However, both entities are yet to become the pride of America. This is exactly why the inclusion of the Andretti-GM team will steal whatever little limelight Haas has.

We can excuse Sargeant with the American still in his rookie season. However, the hosts of the VF1 Show did not give Haas this benefit of the doubt. The American team entered the circus in 2016 and has struggled only in the bottom half of the grid. After surviving despite the lack of funding for a few seasons, Haas is in a stable condition but VF believes it can never be the IT team for the American audience thus giving Andretti a chance to acquire the existing fanbase.

VF said, “I think what Andretti says, especially if F1 does allow Andretti in, is that ‘okay we’ve got Haas, I think everyone knows how they feel about Haas. At this point, we have much higher expectations of Haas to perform. They’re just not there, they haven’t been there. I don’t think they’ll ever be there and that’s unfortunate because you’re not supposed to be our team.”

“People look at it and say ‘Well you’ve got a mediocre team in Haas, you’ve got a mediocre driver in Logan Sargeant’ and I wouldn’t say it’s totally fair to compare the two because Haas has been around for a long time. They’ve had plenty of time to improve themselves than Logan Sargeant.”

Now Gene Haas and his team need a lot to prove if they want continued support from its American fanbase. Support that often translates to sponsorships which is essential for a team’s survival in the sport. Money is a big factor in Formula 1 and even Red Bull boss Christian Horner boiled down Andretti-GM’s approval by the FIA to money. However, the F1 president did not sit back and take this accusation.

Read More: Logan Sargeant’s F1 Failure Opens Doors for Andretti’s Successful Entry

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali defends the sport against the money bias accusation as Andretti Global-GM gets approval to enter

The entire F1 grid has been in hyperdrive since the news of Andretti Autosport-GM getting a nod of approval broke out. After multiple attempts to deny the American racing and automobile giants, they finally crossed the first bureaucratic tape. However, the idea of an 11th on the grid is still harrowing for all the existing benefactors.

When asked to comment on the same, Horner accused F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali of greed. He said, “This is a question you should ask [Formula 1 CEO] Stefano [Domenicali]. It’s all about money, and it’s very political.” However, the CEO did not appreciate the accusation and was quick in his response.

Domenicali said, “I’m not changing my mind on that point. It’s not about money like we said, and I don’t want to prejudge anything because there is a process going on.”

The F1 president was backed by his FIA counterpart as well. “People have to understand we are here to promote motorsport and we are here to be fair. The Expressions of Interest process is very robust, and there is no circumstance where we can deny any teams if they fulfill the criteria to enter,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

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Whether it’s about money or not Andretti-GM will have to pay huge sums before they can field a team on the track. It will be interesting to see how this saga plays out and how soon will we see an 11th team on the grid.