F1 News: Christian Horner Backs Teams Criticism Over Andretti Addition - "Who's Going To Pay For It?"
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has spoken out on Andretti Autosport potentially joining the F1 grid in 2026 and has explained why some of the bosses are against the addition of another team.
Andretti revealed they had joined forces with Cadillac at the beginning of the year in order to push forward with their hopes of becoming an "All-American" team in the sport.
The FIA had a positive response to the partnership, however, some of the F1 teams have raised concerns over the move.
Horner has explained the criticism during an interview with RACER, saying that it basically comes down to money. He explained:
“Look, Andretti is a great brand, a great team. Mario, what he did in F1— as an American as well — is fantastic. Obviously GM with Cadillac as well would be two phenomenal brands to have in the sport, and I don’t think there can be any dispute about that.
“As with all these things though, it ultimately boils down to, ‘Well, who’s going to pay for it?’ And you can assume that the teams, if they’re perceived to be the ones who are paying for it - or diluting their payments to accommodate it — of course it’s not going to sit that well.
“The two teams that are supporting it (McLaren and Alpine) either have a partnership in the U.S. with them, or are going to supply them an engine. The other eight are saying, ‘Well hang on, why should we dilute our element of the prize fund?’”
Horner went on to explain that Liberty Media are not going to pay for another team as they are happy with ten. The Red Bull team chief continued:
“Then on the other side you’ve got the Liberty (Media) guys saying, ‘Well we’re not going to pay for it, we’re happy with 10 healthy, competitive franchises from an operational perspective — garages, logistics, motorhomes — it’s all more to accommodate.’ I’m sure they would prefer the Audi model, where they come in and acquire an existing franchise.
“If you introduce another one or two teams, you dilute the value of the current 10 franchises, which of course teams — particularly down towards the bottom end of the grid — have got a very inflated inherent value at the moment.
“I hope a solution can be found. What would be cleaner would be if they were able to take on one of the existing teams or franchises, but they are certainly both great brands that would be very, very welcome in F1.”
The FIA are still going through the process with Andretti Autosport so there have not been any further announcements yet.