Michael Andretti Makes F1 Christmas Wish With Bold $200 Million “Bigger Than Ferrari” Promise in Return

Michael Andretti has been waiting for F1’s approval to float a team of his own for a long time now. The motor sporting family hasn’t received a confirmation from the ruling body yet. However, that hasn’t deterred them from breaking the ground for a grand facility that will house amenities better than Ferrari’s.

Michael’s father, Mario Andretti, is a name revered not only by motor racing fans in the US but worldwide. While the Italian-American has won several championships including in IndyCar and NASCAR, he is also the only American to have won the accolade in Formula 1. He created excitement when he let his intentions of running the 11th team in F1 known.

Michael Andretti gives an update on F1 dreams

Mario Andretti with his family and many dignitaries broke the ground for a facility spread over 575,000 sq.ft. As per IndyStar, they will build the premises on a whopping budget of $200 million. Speaking about his vision for the facility he claims will be “bigger than Ferrari’s“, Mario told it will house a restaurant with the family’s recipes. Apart from that, it will house a museum and an amphitheater that will screen races and host watch parties.

Speaking on when they expected to hear from F1, Michael told, “We’re hoping in the next couple weeks. That would sure be a nice Christmas present.”

“But we’re working every day (to earn clearance for an expansion team). I’m still confident. We’re getting close. We haven’t gotten the ‘OK’ yet, but we’re getting really close.”

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The Andretti family got an offer to take over AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s sister team after co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz’s death. However, they remain firm on the decision to only have a team of their own.

Another player enters the battle to float an F1 team of their own

Calvin Lo, for very long, had his exposure to motor racing limited to Macau races. His stumble upon F1 was purely coincidental when he was in Singapore for a business meeting and turned on the TV in his hotel room to find F1 on. He had learned about Michael Schumacher by then and kept the race on. Fascinated by the teamwork involved, he instantly fell in love with the sport.

The Hong Kong billionaire now intends to go all in, taking his love for F1 a step further. He intends to have a team of his own. “For any new team, Asia, or anywhere outside of Europe, is making the pie bigger. At least from my point of view, Asia is demanding more F1. Just watching the TV, there’s a 30 or 40% increase in subscribers just because of F1. So for sure, Asia is a vast market,” Planet F1 quoted him.

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As Michael Andretti hopes to get an update from F1 in the near future, we hope it will be a positive response.