Q: The way F1 has treated Michael Andretti and team has been despicable, culminating in the ridiculous and borderline libelous statement it issued to publicly reject and seemingly embarrass Andretti (although I would argue F1 just embarrassed itself). I know there has been long-standing vitriol in F1 circles against Michael Andretti despite apparent reverence for Mario. And I know that Michael did not endear himself by publicly pleading his case and arguing (rightly) that those adverse to his petition are fueled by greed.
But I have been mulling over what is behind such animus, and I would argue it is anti-Americanism. To be sure, Toto Wolff and Stefano Domenicali — two of the more overtly hostile actors — love more U.S. races resulting in more U.S. dollars lining their pockets, but they seem to view Americans as a bunch of yokels not worthy of being in their company. See, for example, the way they treated ticketholders who missed out on the first Vegas practice.
I know F1 has indicated it is still interested in Cadillac/GM providing engines in the future, but again, this just seems to be a case of them wanting the additional USD investment — not a true respect for one of the largest and longest-lived auto marques. Would F1 treat Roger Penske any better? Perhaps, but the way they have treated not only Michael, but also devastated Mario, suggests otherwise.
Boycotts don’t tend to work, but I want Liberty and F1 to know that they have turned off this American from caring about their inflated product and, more importantly, I am turning off my spending on anything F1 and hope other Americans do, too.
And I see through F1’s cynical attempt to stifle discussion of their treachery by announcing the following day Hamilton’s move to Ferrari.
If there is any justice, Gene Haas will relent and sell to Andretti so he can annoy the F1 powerbrokers with his presence for years to come.
Andrew H., Chicago, IL
CM: See the above answer for my thoughts on it being an anti-American decision, Andrew, but I’ll just add that there was a Saudi-funded team trying to put an entry together that would have likely paid any price to be on the grid, and that didn’t get anywhere near this point in the process. FOM was saying long before Andretti was put forward that it didn’t want an 11th team, it wants the value driven up of the existing teams, that includes a U.S.-owned one in Haas.
F1 takes money from all sorts of regions, not just America, and puts its own money on the line to try and grow the sport in the U.S. in the form of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. It is absolutely a decision about money — and while Michael was right about greed, he was also someone who said it was understandable that teams would protect what they have. But it’s not a decision about American money. It’s about who stands to benefit at the moment if the entry is admitted, and Andretti does far more than F1 itself does as a business.
The downside is fans lose out, because fans would benefit from an 11th team, more storylines, more drivers to support or watch, and Michael likely being great value in the paddock fighting his own corner, just like the likes of Wolff does.
To also back up the point, as much as I feel like fans were very unfairly treated in Vegas last year, I feel the same with those who went to Spa in 2021 and didn’t see a race but it was called a race behind the safety car, and were treated so badly then, too.
Q: I’m a 35-year fan of F1 and IndyCar. Have always loved both. How should I or any American fan continue to support F1? Andretti brings no value but Haas is still on the grid? Tell me how that makes sense?
Steve, Moline, IL
CM: Because the choice isn’t between Andretti or Haas, Steve. The choice is between adding an 11th team or not. If you ranked every team that might want to enter F1 alongside the existing teams and worked out the strongest 10, you would likely end up with a different grid than we have now, and there’s no guarantee Andretti without a GM power unit would be on it.
You can’t just kick out a team that has a contract and an agreement based on another showing up and wanting to come in. It would mean the whole sport would collapse, because why would any other existing team then be able to commit if the same could happen to them?
I think Andretti should be on the grid, and I really want to see it happen, but no new team can just be allowed in at any cost. The NFL doesn’t just let any new expansion team join whenever they say they want to, just because the fans want it. It’s a business, and it makes a business decision on if it will lead to long-term growth and benefit the league, and then sets a fee to do that. F1 is following a similar pattern, and has told Andretti and GM exactly what it thinks is its best chance of joining, while also giving itself time to try and find a fee that would work for the sport. Whether it then still does for Andretti Cadillac is another matter.
Q: I’ve been an IndyCar fan for the past 40 years and was starting to follow F1 as I was excited to have Andretti in there and the races they have here in America. That statement put out by F1 was so effing arrogant, I’m just disgusted with F1.
What team could possibly come in and be as competitive as Andretti? Look how great Haas has done, and this would be a true American team. FOM also said that Andretti wouldn’t add any value to F1 — there isn’t a name in America and probably the world more known as Andretti for racing, that name is in more songs, crossed many genres than anybody else’s. I’m totally down with F1. I could care less where Hamilton is going next year, the racing has been horrible and one-sided since I can remember. I hope every American boycotts F1 and the races they are having here.
CAM in LA
CM: I’ve got to disagree that there isn’t a team in the world that is more known as Andretti for racing. In America, sure, but globally — and F1 is a global sport — it’s clear that Andretti would become far more well-known and profit from the reach of F1. That’s one of the reason Andretti, GM and the team’s backers want to come in, because it makes business sense. It’s why Haas joined, because it promoted Haas Automation all around the world and makes it a far more well-known brand.
But I agree that Andretti has every chance of being easily competitive enough as a new entrant given the resources and personnel its already hired. Plus, who decides what is competitive enough? In the past new teams would be four or five seconds off the pace, but today the team finishing bottom of the standings regularly makes it to Q3 and scores points on multiple occasions.
This is the most competitive F1 field ever, partly thanks to regulations, and the gaps are tiny between teams. That doesn’t prevent monotonous results or dominance, but they’re still all far closer than in the past as a collective.
Given the regulations, Andretti would likely be off the back but not dangerously so, and then the storyline of closing in and beating other teams over time is a great one to follow. It would also highlight how impressive it is what other teams are doing, and I actually think show Haas in a far more positive light, too. So I didn’t like those comments from F1 either.