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The Andretti-Cadillac bid was a heated topic of discussion at Friday’s press conferences
On Thursday, the current Formula 1 drivers were given the chance to weigh in on the prospective addition of an 11th team — the Andretti-Cadillac bid — to the grid. For the most part, the drivers were largely diplomatic in their responses.
Friday saw team bosses take to the couch, and those that addressed the topic were hardly diplomatic at all. Both Frederic Vasseur from Ferrari and James Vowles from Williams came out strongly against adding another team to the field.
“My thoughts are very clear. Williams is against the addition of an 11th team. And very strongly against,” said Vowles during Friday’s press conferences.
For the Williams boss, it comes down to financial concerns.
“My responsibility is to 900 employees within my company. If you go look at Companies House, you can go look it up for Williams, we’ve submitted it now, you can see that we’re lossy. We’re very lossy. In fact, compare it from ’21 to ’22, you’ll see that losses are in the tens of millions more. Compare it to ’23, which you won’t see but I’ll guarantee you, it’s multiples above that,” said Vowles.
“The reason why is we’re investing in this sport, to become better. We believe in where the sport is going, we believe in the direction of travel of the sport. In order to do that… the reason why is we actually have, I think, a sustainable entity for once,” added the Williams boss. “Teams are working more and more together, we have close racing as a result of things – but it should be known that this isn’t just us that are not financially stable. I’d say probably half the grid aren’t.”
Vasseur largely agreed with the financial assessment offered by Vowles.
“As James said before, all the teams on the grid they made a big effort… We have to keep in mind that three or four years ago we had almost half of the grid quite close to the bankruptcy and we have to avoid to be arrogant that F1… The life is a cycle and we don’t know what could happen before 2030,” added the Ferrari boss. “And I would think that we would put F1 in a tough situation for this.”
The Williams boss did not slam the door on an 11th team, but wants such a move done when the ten teams currently on the grid are in a much stronger financial position.
“I think the addition of an 11th team is a sensible thing – but only at a point where the 10th team on the grid is financially stable. I’m fortunate to have owners that really believe in what we’re doing and to invest in what we’re doing – but we need to take care as a sport to make sure we look after that.
“Everyone says we’re in a good place – we are in some regards, but now those facts down the line, that this is tens of millions, or, in fact, hundreds of millions you’ll see shortly, being invested to make the sport better, it becomes very clear why we’re very careful about diluting what we’ve already got – because it’s just more losses on the table,” added Vowles.
One of the aspects regarding the Andretti-Cadillac bid — and what might make it enticing to the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), F1’s governing body — is that the prospective team is promising to deliver an “All-American” outfit. During the press conference back in January when the partnership between Andretti and General Motors was announced, Michael Andretti made it clear to the media, including SB Nation, that this would be an American team.
And as such, it would be the biggest story in motorsports.
“[An] American manufacturer behind an American team with an American driver will be the biggest story of the year,” said Andretti back in January. The driver in question? Colton Herta, who currently competes in IndyCar for Andretti Autosport. Herta was rumored to join F1 in recent years, and was in contention for a seat with Alfa Romeo for the 2022 season, but those talks broke down. Herta recently signed a multi-year extension with Andretti Autosport which runs through the 2027 season.
However, Vasseur pushed back on the idea of an “All-American” team, wondering who exactly would benefit.
“And I didn’t have access to the CEO of Andretti but I think it’s the first question: what is the added value for the F1? We have already a 10th team who is American with Haas,” said Vasseur. “We have an American driver on the grid. And the question for me is around this. What could be the value?”
Vasseur and Vowles might be the most recent team principals to voice opposition to the move, but they are not alone. Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has remained against the move, and spoke out against adding an 11th team — before the Andretti-Cadillac bid was even approved by the FIA — ahead of the British Grand Prix.
Having been approved by FIA, the Andretti-Cadillac bid now moves to Formula One Management (FOM) for more complex discussions, including financial considerations under the current Concorde Agreement. Whether the Andretti-Cadillac bid clears that hurdle, or not, remains to be seen.
But at least we now know where Vowles and Vasseur stand.
