Formula One on Wednesday rejected an Andretti-Cadillac bid to enter as an 11th team in 2025, saying it did not believe the proposed outfit would be competitive or add value to the championship.
It said, however, that it would look differently on an application for 2028 with a General Motors power unit “either as a GM works team or as a GM customer team designing all allowable components in-house”.
The governing FIA last year approved Andretti’s application and sent it on to Liberty Media-owned Formula One Management (FOM) last October for commercial discussions.
The existing teams had opposed expanding the grid, a move they argued would reduce their value and dilute their share of the revenues.
“Our assessment process has established that the presence of an 11th team would not, on its own, provide value to the Championship,” Formula One said.
“The most significant way in which a new entrant would bring value is by being competitive. We do not believe that the Applicant would be a competitive participant.”
Formula One said it did not believe there was a basis for any new applicant to be admitted in 2025 “given that this would involve a novice entrant building two completely different cars in its first two years of existence”.
“The fact that the Applicant proposes to do so gives us reason to question their understanding of the scope of the challenge involved.”
Formula One’s engine rules are changing significantly in 2026 and an Andretti entry would have relied on an obligation for one of the existing manufacturers to supply them until at least 2028.
General Motors has formally registered with the FIA to provide power units for the proposed U.S.-based team but only from 2028.
Formula One said the initial ‘dependency’ on a compulsory power unit supply led it to believe the proposed team would not be competitive.
