14/07/2023
NEWS STORY
As the sport ponders whether to allow new teams on to the F1 grid, Michael Andretti admits to regretting one of his previous comments.
As the teams, and F1 itself, appeared to circle the wagons, raising all manner of reasons why a new team wasn't needed, whilst demanding an 'anti-dilution' fee of $600m, Andretti accused them of being "greedy", a move which even disappointed FIA president, Mohammed ben Sulayem, an obvious supporter of the American's bid.
As the sport considers expressions of interest from five potential entrants - Andretti, Carlin, Hitech, Formula Equal and LKY SUNZ - Andretti admits that he regrets his previous comment.
"I probably used the wrong word," he says. "I shouldn't have said 'greed' but everybody's been looking out for themselves.
"When I said it I got criticised," he continues, "but if I was in their situation, I'd probably do the same thing.
"I don't blame the teams, they all are going to look at it for themselves, because that's what they need to do to be competitive.
"It's a very, very expensive sport," he adds, in a masterpiece of understatement. "There's a lot involved, and there's a lot of commitment from every team. They've got to make sure that they protect that, and I understand that's what they're trying to do.
"But in the end, they're not going to be the ones that make the decision. It's going to be up to the series and the FIA to decide if it's the right individual."
The sport's hardly concealed contempt for the Andretti bid, took a knock however when GM brand Cadillac was announced as a partner, however even then some insisted that this was merely a rebadging exercise, in reference to the claim that Andretti would be using Renault engines.
"General Motors is very, very involved," insists Andretti. "People are trying to say, well, 'they're just putting their name on it'. No, it's a very, very integral part of the whole team.
"I think once everything goes public and people see what we submitted, they'll see it's a big involvement," he adds.
Speaking at Silverstone, Toto Wolff suggested that Andretti should buy an existing team, a path that the American went down with Sauber, but to no avail.
"We've tried, nobody's interested, nobody's selling," he says. "We've been to every single team. People keep saying, 'well, buy a team' but nobody wants to sell.
"You go there and they're not even interested in talking. I've been there, done that, it's not happening."
Ahead of the decision, which is thought could be announced by the end of the month, Andretti insists that he's still feeling positive.
"I feel good. I think we checked every box, but the reality is we'll just have to wait and see what happens. I think we have everything we need to go in, be competitive, be respectful and add to the series."