Another setback for Andretti: Also Domenicali doesn't see eleventh team

It seems pretty certain that Michael Andretti will not be on the F1 grid with an eleventh team in the coming years. In any case, the American is going to have a very difficult time now that F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali also doesn't like the addition of another team.

Andretti has long been fighting the F1 organization and the FIA to get a foot in the door with the exclusive club of racing teams. Liberty Media boss Greg Maffei already gave Andretti a negative answer and the teams were not all waiting for another competitor. At the Business of F1 forum organized by the Financial Times and Motorsport Network in Monaco, Domenicali spoke of a possible eleventh team.

F1 wants to protect existing teams

"They [the teams] are very solid [financially, ed]. That is something that is a great reward for them. They have invested in us and therefore we think the community should be respected." The problem of a shortage of teams does not exist in F1. This is how Maffei said it and how Domenicali repeats what the Liberty boss says. In fact, there are plenty of parties ready to join F1. Domenicali however puts the emphasis on the existing group. They must be protected according to the Italian and that, he says, is a sign of a "very healthy system.

An eleventh team is therefore unnecessary. At least, Domenicali says, "If someone wants to join, it has to be really significant." It has been agreed by the teams and F1 that a new team should pay 200 million which will be divided among the teams. The fear is only still that the average twenty million per team does not outweigh, among other things, the loss of prize money paid out by the FIA. By the "great significance" that teams must bring, Domenicali means that big names in the auto industry like Audi and Porsche are more sought after.