The Andretti-Cadillac drama seems to have no end to it. The American team has been up in arms to prepare for a Formula 1 debut that was denied to them by Liberty Media in January 2024. Despite getting clearance from the FIA regarding their entry into the pinnacle of motorsports, Andretti-Cadillac failed to get the green signal from the US-based franchise that owns Formula 1. Thus, this major roadblock killed the dreams of the father-son duo of Mario and Michael Andretti as their F1 team had no way of competing without the agreement from Liberty Media’s side.

Ever since the entry of an 11th team in Formula 1 became a possibility, most of the leaders of the existing F1 squads have been against this idea. They have cited issues like the new team bringing no additional value as a major concern. Seeing the huge opposition from all the team principals, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei took the decision to reject Andretti’s bid for Formula 1. In fact, Mario Andretti has even alleged that Maffei told him, “Mario, I want to tell you that I will do everything in my power to see that Michael never enters Formula 1.” After making such a revelation, the Andrettis have sought help from the US Department of Justice to file a lawsuit against Liberty Media.

The US lawmakers investigated and then filed an antitrust lawsuit against Liberty Media for denying an American brand the right to enter an international competition such as F1. Speaking on the impact of this allegation against the F1 franchise owners, ‘Missed Apex F1’ host Matt Trumpets asked on his podcast, “If I’m Liberty, do I have a real reason to be kind of concerned here at least that the judgment might go against me even if they can’t change the outcome?” At this, legal expert Dr. Heather Anson said, “I would be worried, yes. The speed at which this transferred from just a legislative investigation to the DoJ, the DoJ definitely saw something here.”

The Department of Justice can penalize Liberty Media if the allegations against the corporate group are found to be correct. And this can cause a landslide of a monetary loss to them. So, what did Dr. Anson say about this lawsuit that she “sees as a real issue”?

Liberty Media’s “flimsy” complaints against Andretti might be the “real issue”

Ever since Andretti-Cadillac became serious about their F1 debut, team principals like Mercedes’ Toto Wolff have opposed their entry. If Andretti-Cadillac comes in, a considerable share of each season’s prize money will go towards the new team. To prevent this, several team bosses opposed the entry into the F1 circuit. But they could not show this as a reason for denying the American outfit a chance to take part in Formula 1. So, they alleged that Andretti would not be adding any value to the sport.

Now, as a legal expert, Dr. Heather Anson sees this reason as a flimsy one. She said, “I see a real issue here as I’m pretty sure the teams did not want them to come in because of prize money, relations, and things like that. However, they didn’t say that. What they said was it was because they [Andretti] weren’t competitive and weren’t gonna bring anything. That was so flimsy. If they could have come up with something credible, we would not be here today. But they don’t have a credible reason for it [not allowing Andretti to enter F1].”

Thus, the legal brains believe Liberty Media is in a tough battle now. And as a brand worth $19.9 billion, they will undoubtedly address these allegations. What’s your take on this? Share in the comments.