FIA president surprised by 'adverse reactions' to Andretti news

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is surprised by the negative reactions to Andretti's plans to sign up with Cadillac as a new team in Formula 1.

Ben Sulayem stresses that the FIA has more often accepted entries from small, successful organisations in the recent past. "We should be encouraging prospective F1 entries from global manufacturers like General Motors and thoroughbred racers like Andretti and others," he said on Twitter.

The FIA president added that interest from new teams in growing markets is only good for diversity and adds to F1's appeal. Even on this point, there seems to be division between the FIA and FOM, as F1 boss Stefano Domenicali previously indicated that the sport is not eager for new teams like Andretti. In addition, far from all teams are also happy with the idea of having to share their prize money with an additional team.

On Thursday, Andretti announced its plans to sign up as a new F1 team in partnership with Cadillac. Shortly afterwards, a message appeared from the FIA president, in which he revealed that a procedure is planned that would make it easier for new teams to sign up.