Liberty Media sends Andretti bad news: 'We're very happy with 10 teams'

Andretti-Cadillac has had a licence from the FIA for several weeks, which could give access to the F1 grid. Meanwhile, the already long wait has entered a new phase. Now Formula 1 must consider the issue. However, a final decision on the US team's entry has not yet been made: the omens are not favourable for Andretti and his team.

Greg Maffei, the CEO of Liberty Media - which owns Formula 1 - says in an upcoming CNBC documentary he is not in favour of an eleventh team: “Look, we're very happy with 10 teams. There is a demand for people to have new teams. I don't think it's something that we need, but we'll always look if they can add something to the grid.”

Toto Wolff has previously indicated neither is eager to bring Andretti into Formula 1. He reckons with the US broadcaster: "If you bring another team in, that means it's just about 10% less in revenue for the teams. But I would be, as a team owner, perfectly prepared to do this if I knew that that team would compensate us because they're bringing new audiences, new markets, they're adding to the show. Then it becomes a no-brainer," said the Mercedes big man.

Haas is the latest new team to enter Formula 1. The US team has hardly had any success yet, partly due to financial constraints. Haas F1 is already struggling to pull the strings, with Andrett-Cadillac joining, fewer dollars are flowing in. "If it is an upside for everybody in F1, I think everybody's fine," says team boss Guenther Steiner, before adding: "But just adding teams to have more teams to dilute the other ones, why would any business do that? In the end, it's a business.”

Andretti himself is hopeful of being admitted to Formula 1, pater familias Mario told GPblog recently. A final decision on an 11th team is not expected to fall until mid-early 2024.