OCTOBER 4, 2023

Rejected bidder thinks Andretti will enter F1

One well-placed insider thinks Formula 1 will add Andretti-Cadillac as the sport's eleventh team.

This week, the FIA finally announced that, out of several applications to become the eleventh and twelfth teams, only Andretti's bid was given the green light.

However, the final phase of the tender process is commercial negotiations with Liberty Media - with the F1 owner and the majority of the current ten teams openly resisting the idea of an eleventh outfit.

But Rodin Cars' owner David Dicker, who had allied with Carlin for a team bid that was rejected by the FIA, thinks Andretti will ultimately be welcomed.

I don't think there's any chance in a million years that Andretti is not going to get in, he told the British newspaper the Mirror.

I would pretty much bet everything I own, said the Australian entrepreneur, whose personal fortune has been estimated at $1 billion.

If the Formula 1 guys turn them down - I just couldn't imagine it, Dicker said.

He said the ten teams should have nothing to do with Liberty's commercial negotiations with Andretti, even though the teams have argued that an eleventh team dilutes the value of their organisations.

Dicker added: "I can't imagine the commercial side of F1 turning them down, because where's the negative? More teams are always going to make it more interesting, it's just as simple as that.

"If you look at comments online, I'd say support for a new team - no matter who it was - has to be running at 80 or 90 percent.

I'll be amazed if Andretti don't get in, he insisted. Traditionally, it's always been 26 cars and the only reason why they went down to 10 was because they brought in four new teams back in 2010 and those teams couldn't survive.
(GMM)