Mario Andretti angry at F1: 'My heart bleeds'

Andretti still wants to enter Formula 1, but in this case, no news is bad news. The Americans have the FIA's permission to join motorsport's premier class, but the teams and owner Liberty Media, are stalling. Will this still work out?

The Andretti family is not giving up. Mario Andretti acknowledged to Blick that the situation is particularly unpleasant. "My heart bleeds when I see how Formula 1 behaves towards my son," the 83-year-old American said.

Teams and Liberty are against it

The current 10 teams in Formula 1 prefer to continue with 10 teams instead of 11 or 12. If more racing teams are added, the prize money should also be divided among more teams. The formations fear that the pie will remain the same, but the pieces get smaller. Moreover, there are questions about Andretti's competitiveness.

On the other hand, Liberty Media does not necessarily have an interest in the arrival of an eleventh team either. The owner would prefer to keep the sport as exclusive as possible to preserve the value of the whole circus. Both Liberty and the teams have to give approval so it looks like it will be a difficult story for Andretti, who have already hired hundreds of employees to make the necessary preparations for an F1 entry.

Ecclestone and Haas F1

Bernie Ecclestone, the former owner of Formula 1, is following it all with interest from a distance. "The Andretti's should have bought a team years ago. Then they wouldn't have had these problems now. Of course, the teams are fighting back!"

Another plan is to buy Haas F1's team. Gene Haas' team severely underperformed in recent seasons, and for the businessman, the team is now a cost rather than a money maker. Yet a sale of the team does not seem to be on the cards, especially now that Gene Haas has single-handedly shown Guenther Steiner the door