'Andretti and Sauber were 48 hours away from deal on takeover'

For a long time there was talk about the possible acquisition of the Sauber-run Alfa Romeo team by Michael Andretti. In October it was confirmed that the deal had fallen through, but according to Andretti it was a close one.

It really did look like just before the United States Grand Prix that Andretti and Sauber were going to announce that this takeover would happen until the talks were suddenly called off. Andretti admits at RACER that he is still very interested in the deal and is disappointed it didn't happen.

"It was really, really disappointing that that deal didn’t come together. We were literally 48 hours away from getting the deal done at that time as we thought. I still very much would like to do it, opportunities are becoming less and less, teams aren’t really for sale right now. We have to see what happens in the future."

Andretti is not going to give up

Speaking to RACER, the Andretti Autosport team boss admits that talks had started back in May. In August and September, everything suddenly came together and then he had the idea that there was a deal. Circumstances prevented the deal from going through, but the American remains hopeful. "There’s always a Plan B or C. So we’re definitely still attacking it. We’ll see what happens, but I’m not gonna give up on it. There could be opportunities that come down the road that aren’t here right now and we’re just going to keep looking for those opportunities."