Andretti Global F1 team

Didn't Andretti Motorsports go bankrupt a few years ago?

 

Zack was fairly supportive early in this FIA driven mess. Seems he is much more neutral and supportive of 10 teams.

McLaren boss on Andretti bid: No 'anti-American' bias in F1

https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/40239791/mclaren-boss-andretti-bid-no-anti-american-bias-f1

 

F1: Williams worth $1.5bn, says Brown (gptoday.com)

Williams worth $1.5bn, says Brown
Defending F1's stance on Andretti, McLaren boss, Zak Brown dismisses talk of anti-American bias whilst valuing Williams at $1.5bn (£1.2bn).

 

Sure, everything’s worth a billion and a half…

…until you try to find a buyer.


And, any time you need to invoke Brad Pitt to make a point, well that’s a sure sign of weakness!

 

Seems Andretti is blaming everyone but themselves. Seems they just don't have the money to get into the Big Leagues. Should have bought Sauber when he had a chance. With the value of a F1 team now a days seems like his window is closing. If they could win Indy again, F1 would be knocking on their door but I don't think that is going to happen any time soon.

 

He refused to provide the 5 years sustainment funding Sauber's owner asked for to ensure the team would not fail in a shorter term. Andretti refused or most likely lacked the funding. I blame the FIA for not coordinating something as major a change as new teams are with FOM. Andretti was probably led to think the FIA could push FOM to accept. FOM never wanted a new team or teams at this point. FIA is the problem on this one.

Andretti was also far too public in pushing for inclusion. He lost his only fan in Zack now at this point. All 10 teams now favor the FOM response that 2028 is a good time to re-assess the application for Andretti.

 

With all this discussion about whether 22 cars would be too many, I received Sauro Torregianni's new book about the 1989 F1 season. I was reminded of the fact that TWENTY teams campainged that season, putting THIRTY-NINE cars on the track. Of thse, 26 would start the Grand Prix, 4 nore would fail to qualify, and 9 would fail to pre-qualify. 16 of the 20 teams scored points.

So 30 cars would be on the track for qualifying. Can you imagine the mayhem if 30 of today's cars were on the track at the same time?

 

There were not 30 cars on the track in qualifications, IF I remember correctly.
The FOCA members (like long established teams Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, etc ...) were automatically qualified for the race. They had paddock space, and pits too.
The non-FOCA cars didn't benefit from these facilities, and worked from the car park on some circuits.
They participated in pre-qualifs to eliminate most of them, bar 4 that were kept for the "proper" qualifs, I think.
At the end of the first day, most non-FOCA teams were going home, and the real GP weekend started.
It was really a two-tier F1 were some teams were advantaged, and the rest ... discouraged.
It's not surprising that most non-FOCA teams didn't survive one season.
I think Bernie wanted to avoid a repeat of that era, by concentrating on 10 better financed permanent teams.
I presume that Liberty also saw the wisdom to keep it that way to maintain the financial stability.

 

I find it illogical for the current Concorde (that all parties agreed to) to allow for 12 teams/24 cars then as an excuse to reject Andretti (or any potential entrant) on the basis that the additional team will be a logistic burden and insufficient paddock space. Are not the tracks contractually required to have sufficient space to accommodate that which is stipulated in the Concorde?

I read a story this morning that Liberty is working to change the concept for the Concorde to be more like the NFL owner & league arrangement. Exactly how that would change the structure was not discussed. Might this put it where the teams do get a vote on new entrants? That would kill new entrants and codify the closed group 10 teams that we already have. Lots more drivers that deserve a legitimate chance for an F1 seat are going to come to IndyCar.

 

That has always been the case, and it's not an argument to have more teams in F1.

 

Renault CEO rules out Alpine F1 team sale despite "offers left and right"
French manufacturer Renault has made it clear that its Alpine Formula 1 team will not be sold, despite receiving “offers left and right”.

 

That will only make its value go up.

 

Possibly his strategy. I have a sense Andretti is being priced out by all of this overall. The effort to get a cheap/inexpensive team is well over. Very much a concerted effort by FOM to enable the full franchise model they have made the effort for in F1.

 

Here is a team valuation from Sportico.com. Totally unofficial, but giving some indication, perhaps.
10 Haas $710millions
9 Williams $795m
8 Sauber $815m
7 Racing Bull $905m (that's the team Andretti turned down)
6 Alpine $1.08Billions
5 Aston Martin $1.14B
4 McLaren $1.56B
3 Red Bull $2.42B
2 Mercedes $2.7B
1 Ferrari $3.13B
That's the club Andretti wants to join.

 

But aren't each of those valuations including the buildings and equipment that any new entrant would have to spend on anyway? Point being that a new entrant would be paying the initiation fee plus a bunch more to set up shop.

I thought it was Sauber, not RB, that Andretti could not finish making a deal with.

The franchise model is not what the rules in effect were when Andretti and the others applied. All FOM did was play a stalling game so they could have the time to implement a new business model for team ownership. All the excuses are nothing more than crap so they could run out the clock on the current Concorde.

 

Correction, of course it was Sauber, not RB. Well spotted Jeff Kennedy !!!

 

I think these evaluations go beyond the physical assets the teams own, and include the sponsorship they attract, the level of redistribution they receice from FOM each year, and other incomes, etc ...
Obviously the big players are the most valuable.

 

Article in F1 Business gives some interesting insight to the battle of Andretti getting into F1.

FIA and FOM/Liberty are in a running feud over who is more powerful. Says that even Bernie understood the FOM's limits when it came to the FIA.

Accuses Maffei of having a Master of the Universe complex that is unwarranted.

Confirms that Marios version of Maffei making the statement that Michael would never be allowed into F1 is correct. Notes that this is a personal issue with Maffei. Goes on to say that FOM is picking a fight with the US Congress that does not bode well for Liberty. Interesting in this viewpoint is from a British publication which might be more in line with the current teams and FOM attitude.

 

Never take for Gospel what a newspaper prints ...

 

The proclaimed team valuations are as absurd as most high end real estate prices. Inflation has been taken as true value in F1, just like so in much else. Hamilton's and Newey's new salary are absurd (as are most of the other driver and Team Principal salaries). The cost of the cars is absurd, the cost of the tickets are absurd, etc. etc. It is a competition of vanities and of no significance to anyone outside the asylum. And the end result is that the racing has gotten worse with every passing year for the last 15 or more years. It is a bubble that is due to burst. And when it does, real racers and real racing enthusiasts will step in, salvage what is salvagable, and get back to basics.

 

Everything about F1 is grotesquely bloated.

 

I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bored already.

 

When John Malone is invited to testify before a congressional committee on antitrust he’ll not be much amused. To his aides: “What is this Formula 1 and what kind of idiots do we have running it?”

 

Sorry but no real price for Ferrari, like the « joconde « !