23/02/2022
NEWS STORY
Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff has warned Michael Andretti that if he is serious about entering F1 he will require a war chest of around $1bn.
Last weekend, motorsport legend, Mario Andretti revealed that his son, Michael has approached the FIA with a view to entering F1 in 2024.
At a time the sport is said to be booming, certainly in terms of viewer numbers and social media followers, a new team is what F1's owners have been calling for, especially if it is American.
However, despite the budget cap, F1 remains a sport of haves and have nots, and if Andretti is to avoid the sort of backmarker fate that has befallen countryman Gene Haas, Toto Wolff warns that the American must come to the table with significant funding.
"Andretti is a name, that's for sure," Wolff told reporters at Barcelona, "and the American market is important.
"Every team that is joining needs to add value," added the Austrian, who is now officially resident in Monaco. "It's not only by paying a $200m entry fee but it needs to demonstrate, in my opinion, what it can do for all the other teams and for Formula 1 and the FIA. Only then the sport will grow.
"We are the absolute pinnacle," he said, "this is the Champions League, the NFL... and redistributing franchises on the go is not how it should be. It's not the intention of F1 and the FIA either.
"But if a real brand with good people, necessary funding, with, not only the $200m but probably you need more around $1bn, if you want to play in this club straight from the get-go... then why not?"
For once, the Austrian's views were shared by Christian Horner.
"It's great that there is the interest for people wanting to enter Formula 1," said the Red Bull boss. "The Andretti name is certainly a powerful name in motorsport, and they're not the only ones making noises about coming in.
"But there is a clear criteria through the Concorde Agreement that has to be met and approved," he warned. "I'm sure they are engaged in that process. That agreement is there to protect the ten incumbents and not to dilute that. So that would need to be carefully looked at."
Dilute seems to be one of the buzz words in the paddock at present. Indeed, at a time team bosses fear that adding more races to the calendar may well dilute the sport, citing quantity over quality, it would appear that F1 bosses are strictly controlling the value of the Barcelona test, no doubt for fear of diluting interest in the 'official' test in Bahrain next month, for which they will have been paid handsomely.