Andretti lashes out at teams: 'It's all about the money'

Michael Andretti has hit out hard at teams in Formula 1. In an interview with Forbes the American has little good to say about the teams that are reportedly blocking his entry into the sport.

In early January, Andretti announced a partnership with General Motors and Cadillac in an attempt to set up a Formula One team. Despite FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem expressing his support for the team online and in an interview, the reaction from Formula 1 was only cool. Only Alpine and McLaren expressed their support for Andretti. Although the teams have no official say on who does and does not join, Formula 1 seems to want to support the current teams and is therefore not too keen on Andretti's entry.

In 2021, the so-called Concorde Agreement stipulated that new entrants to Formula 1 had to put in $200 million to compensate for the lost revenues for existing teams. While Andretti can certainly provide that amount, resistance from the teams still remains. "It’s all about money," Andretti states. "First, they think they are going to get diluted one-tenth of their prize money, but they also get very greedy thinking we will take all the American sponsors as well. It’s all about greed and looking at themselves and not looking at what is best for the overall growth of the series."

'Ben Sulayem understands'

So although the team owners and Formula 1 are still in the way of Andretti's participation, he does have a powerful ally on his side with Ben Sulayem. Earlier this week, the FIA president reiterated that there is enough room on the grid for additional teams.

"That is the difference between President Mohammad’s position and the team owner’s position," Andretti explained. "In Formula One, the owners look out for themselves; not what is best for the series. President Mohammad is looking out for the future of the sport. Mohammad gets it. He’s a racer and he understand the series needs to have one or two more teams. "