What Would Andretti’s Takeover of Sauber Motorsports Mean for F1 & Alfa Romeo?

The world of F1 can be a lucrative proposition for many across the world. While it often carries the tag of being the pinnacle of motor sport, it adds prestige to various teams that compete in it. In addition, it also has one of the largest fan bases in the world and continues to reach out to many more countries.

Recently, rumors of Andretti Autosport joining the world of F1 have been doing the rounds in the motor sport world. Those rumors link the American outfit to carry out a takeover of Sauber Motorsport AG, who run their F1 team with Alfa Romeo.

How could the entry of Andretti Autosport affect F1?

In 1993, Michael Andretti, the son of 1978 F1 world champion Mario, founded Andretti Autosport. Since then, the American outfit didn’t just enter various forms of motor sport, but succeeded in many of them as well.

They won the iconic Indianapolis 500 race six times and the IndyCar series four times. Out of those six Indy 500 victories, three of them came in the last seven years. For the 2022 season, they signed former Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean. While they have American racing experience, Andretti Autosport also has a Formula E team since 2014.

While the current F1 grid already has an American outfit in Haas, adding another one could draw more American viewers to the sport. In addition, the team already has F1 fame because of the success of Mario Andretti, which makes it even more exciting for the yellow-colored outfit.

Should Andretti takeover the team, they could also eliminate the necessity of the team having a driver from the Ferrari Academy. This could ultimately reduce Ferrari’s influence on the team, leaving Andretti to work out their strategy.

However, the American outfit have Honda as their partners in other motor sports. Given the Japanese outfit are leaving F1 after 2021, Andretti could find themselves in a tricky situation in the engine department.

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Could Andretti debut an American driver in the future?

While there are no American drivers in Formula 2, there are four prospects in Formula 3. They are Logan Sargent, Kaylen Frederick, Jak Crawford and Juan Manuel Correa. Recently, Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner spoke about the possibility of recruiting American talent in the future.

However, that may look much tougher than it seems due to super license requirements. Should Andretti takeover next year, they will have a driver with race-winning pedigree in Valtteri Bottas. And given their success under Michael Andretti, who is keen on joining F1, the American outfit might just find the winning formula in F1.

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