Andretti Cadillac 'Strongly Disagrees' With F1 Decision to Reject Andretti Formula 1 Bid

On November 14, General Motors shook up the racing world by announcing the manufacturer was aligning with the Andretti Formula 1 entry.

The plan called for a technical alliance at first, no doubt a few stickers on the Andretti F1 cars, a rebranding of the team as Andretti Cadillac, and then ultimately Cadillac power for the team's cars in 2018.

Between 2025—the year Michael Andretti hoped to roll his team out to the F1 grid—and through the 2027 season, Andretti was planning to run with power units provided by an existing F1 manufacturer. The prevailing talk was that the power units bridging the gap to 2028 would come from Renault.

Andretti had reportedly already begun initial wind-tunnel work while pointing internally toward a 2025 entrance into F1.

Good plan, many figured.

Not good enough, said F1 earlier today in its multi-page scathing rebuke of the Andretti bid to join the grid. Series officials in their report cited a lack of an engine deal for 2025 and a concern that the Andretti team wouldn't be competitive as two reasons not to approve the bid.

The Andretti Cadillac team issued the following statement late Wednesday afternoon:

"Andretti Cadillac has reviewed the information Formula One Management Limited has shared and strongly disagree with its contents. Andretti and Cadillac are two successful global motorsports organizations committed to placing a genuine American works team in F1, competing alongside the world’s best.

"We are proud of the significant progress we have already made on developing a highly competitive car and power unit with an experienced team behind it, and our work continues at pace.

"Andretti Cadillac would also like to acknowledge and thank the fans who have expressed their support."

"An association with General Motors that does not initially include a (power unit), with an ambition for a full partnership with GM as a PU supplier in due course, but this will not be the case for some years," the report stated. "Having a GM PU supply attached to the application at the outset would have enhanced its credibility, though a novice constructor in partnership with a new entrant PU supplier would also have a significant challenge to overcome.

"Most of the attempts to establish a new constructor in the last several decades have not been successful."

F1 was also concerned that Andretti would not be able to field a competitive power unit in 2025 and then be able to pivot to a different car when F1 regulations are overhauled for the 2026 season. On top of that, GM's plan was to enter the series as a full-fledged manufacturer two years after that.

"The Applicant proposes, as a novice constructor, to design and build a car under the 2025 regulations, and then in the very next year to design and build a completely different carunder the 2026 regulations," said F1's report. "Further, the Applicant proposes to attempt this with a dependency on a compulsory supply from a rival PU manufacturer that will inevitably be reticent to extend its collaboration with the Applicant beyond the minimum required while the Applicant pursues its ambition of collaborating with GM as a PU supplier in the longer term, which a compulsory PU supplier would see as a risk to its intellectual property and know-how."