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Last week, American open wheel racing fans were very upset when Formula One denied Andretti Global’s application to join the series.
Andretti Global is led by four-time IndyCar Series champion Michael Andretti and since his retirement the team has won the Indianapolis 500 five times.
In October 2023, FIA accepted Andretti’s bid to join F1 the as the eleventh team in the series, beginning in 2026.
Then, last Wednesday, F1 issued a press release which stated, “Our assessment process has established that the presence of an 11th team would not, on its own, provide value to the Championship. The most significant way in which a new entrant would bring value is by being competitive. We do not believe that the Applicant would be a competitive participant.”
“The need for any new team to take a compulsory power unit supply, potentially over a period of several seasons, would be damaging to the prestige and standing of the Championship,” F1 added. “While the Andretti name carries some recognition for F1 fans, our research indicates that F1 would bring value to the Andretti brand rather than the other way around.”
What makes the story even more mysterious is the fact that over the weekend, the Associated Press reported that an email snafu may have played a part in F1’s decision.
F1 reported that they had extended “an invitation to an in-person meeting at our offices in order for the applicant to present its application, but the applicant did not take us up on this offer.”
It turns out that the invitation, sent on Dec. 12 to Andretti Global for that meeting about its application, was sent via email, but ended up in a spam folder.
Andretti Global, after hearing this news, eventually located the email.
“We were not aware that the offer of a meeting had been extended and would not decline a meeting with Formula One Management. An in-person meeting to discuss commercial matters would be and remains of paramount importance to Andretti Cadillac,” the team said. “We welcome the opportunity to meet with Formula One Management and have written to them confirming our interest.”
Formula One now says it will revisit Andretti Global’s application ahead of the 2028 season.