Has F1 changed its mind on the Andretti case?

This is the hot news of this early weekend in Las Vegas. According to several very well-informed sources such as RacingNews365, the F1 could indeed have an 11th team on the grid from 2026. An agreement has been reached between all parties involved so that the Andretti team, linked to General Motors for two years in its F1 project, enters the grid from the next regulatory change in a year.

It is not certain, however, that this 11th team will be present under the name of Andretti, since it would seem that GM has been summoned by the promoter to get more involved in order to give substance to the candidacy. In recent years, Michael Andretti, the boss of the team and son of the world champion Mario, has been quite vocal in the press, regularly testifying – and not always in the right way – to his frustration and his incomprehension at the lack of consideration of the F1 teams, who have never been very enthusiastic about the idea of ​​sharing the financial pie without being sure that this 11th team would make it bigger. And if they do not have direct decision-making power, the FOM will never move forward without their consent.

Why such a U-turn?

The gap between Michael Andretti and the team bosses in F1 had become too wide, and it is hard not to see Mario's son resigns as a sacrifice for the good of the family team. Because there could indeed be a future in F1 for the project. As a reminder, Andretti was the only team to have successfully passed the FIA's expression of interest process and to have been initially proposed to F1, before FOM, which has the final say, finally refused last January.

One of the refusal factors then put forward by FOM was the fact that Andretti would need about two years as a customer team before becoming a factory team by 2028 with the support of General Motors under the Cadillac name, and that it preferred to rule again on the file for a possible arrival in 2028 as a direct engine supplier team. Things seem to have changed, and no doubt the increased potential presence of GM in the project has reassured the teams, and therefore FOM.

There is another important clue regarding an effective takeover of General Motors in the project. At a press conference this Friday, Toto wolff indeed recalled in a sarcastic tone that he has mastered something not trivial to perfection: “I talked to Mario once. I haven’t talked to his son. I haven’t talked to the other people who are behind this. I don’t know who they are. So I know GM. GM is great.” 

The trend would therefore be towards an arrival in 2026 of the American team, under a name still unknown and with GM in the front line. Honda and Ferrari, could be obliged to supply an engine, knowing that Audi and Red Bull Powertrains will be newcomers and that Mercedes will already supply three stables. The end of the engine Renault from 2026 is perhaps what finally made the FOM change its mind…