For some time now, a story has been circulating around the paddock that has been confirmed (with the microphones muted) by more than one team manager. This one says that two years ago Michael Andretti He did not take advantage of the opportunity he had to present his plan to enter the world championship as the eleventh team to the Formula 1 Commission. Their meeting was judged arrogant and ended up annoying everyone present. “He explained motorsports to us,” a person who witnessed the meeting commented privately.
It all took place a year after Andretti’s first attempt to enter Formula 1. Negotiations to take over Sauber began in 2021, and appeared to be on track to come to fruition, with a press release ready to announce the transfer of ownership between Finn Rausing (who at the time held the majority of the team’s shares) and the Andretti group. Colton Herta was even scheduled to attend the first practice session of the US Grand Prix, but in the extremes everything was cancelled.
The versions were discordant. Andretti claimed that conditions changed at the last moment, and from the Rausing front it was said that Andretti did not honor a firm point that had been clear from the beginning, namely that the team would have to remain in Hinwil.
When, last January 31, Liberty Media definitively rejected the Andretti team’s offer to enter Formula 1 as the eleventh team, the reasons for the “no” remained vague. Since the American group acquired the commercial rights from Bernie Ecclestone in September 2016, the first objective was immediately very clear: to break into the market in that country.
With this in mind, the entry into Formula 1 of Andretti, one of the most popular names in the US, seemed the perfect operation for Liberty Media’s objectives. Along with Penske and Ganassi, the Andretti name is undoubtedly a great added value for the promotion in the United States and yet the operation has stalled. The reasons? They have never been very clear, but as many say, the story of dividing income into eleven parts, instead of the current ten, does not hold up.
Nine months after Liberty Media’s “no”, Michael Andretti announced that he has sold his majority stake in Andretti Global to his partner Dan Towriss. A step back that took everyone by surprise, including the American team itself.
Andretti, in a letter published on the team’s website, explained the reasons for his choice: “I have made this decision thinking about myself, the team and my family. I will continue to have a role as an advisor to the team, and although I will be less present on the court, my passion for this sport will remain as always. I am happy to be able to spend more time with my beautiful family, with my ten-year-old twins, and to be able to dedicate more time to my new role as a grandfather.
At sixty-two years old, Michael Andretti takes a step aside, but it is striking that this decision comes just a few months after the presentation of the Formula 1 program, in which he was fully involved. The impression is that his own partners have shown him the exit door precisely because of the “no” he received from Liberty Media, a brake that occurred when large investments had already been made. It is possible that Andretti has paid for his less than idyllic relations with the CEO of the American group, Greg Maffeiand with the CEO of the Formula One Group, Stefano Domenicali. The coming months will clarify everything, and if the Andretti team’s candidacy gains momentum again, the origin of the disagreements that blocked the operation last winter will be clarified.
