F1 News: F1 Insider Slams FOM On Andretti - "One Of The Worst Things F1 Has Done"
F1 pundit Peter Windsor has slammed Formula One Management (FOM) for rejecting Andretti Cadillac's bid to enter Formula 1 until 2028, calling it "one of the worst things Formula 1 has done in a long time".
Last year, the FIA approved the sport's eleventh team to enter Formula 1 after conducting necessary checks. Further financial scrutiny was to be performed by the FOM, who concluded that the American outfit could probably join the F1 grid once General Motors becomes an official engine supplier in 2028.
The FOM's decision, stating that Andretti Cadillac would extract more value from Formula 1 than it would contribute, particularly irked Windsor. He viewed it as an insult to the new team, especially considering Mario Andretti's involvement, who boasts a legacy as the 1978 world champion. Speaking on his live stream on YouTube, he said:
“I’m absolutely appalled I think is the word at the way Formula 1 has rejected Michael Andretti.
“And let’s say the Andretti thing, because Mario was for sure 100 per cent behind all that and wanted to be involved, have his name obviously on that team.
“And I think the fact that they’ve rejected it is ridiculous, and beyond that, I think the reasons they’ve given are insulting and that one about, ‘We think Andretti would have benefitted more from the Formula 1 association than vice versa’, I mean, that is absolutely crass.
“And the prelude to that was saying, ‘Oh well the survey we did’, what survey? What people did they ask? And if they asked people who said: ‘Oh no, Andretti’s not important in the world of motorsport, he wouldn’t add anything to Formula 1’, you’re asking the wrong people or you’re asking the wrong questions.
“Because Mario Andretti, with Michael, and you’ve got to say, Michael has achieved a massive amount as a team owner, but Mario is the case study of the greatest racing driver of all-time in many ways, I mean the versatility of this guy, and his commitment to Formula 1 when he was in Formula 1, and what he did for Formula 1 as an American, I think it is just unconscionable that it’s been rejected.”
Windsor hinted that the cause of the rejection came down to money, which is "one of the worst things Formula 1 has done in a long time". He said:
“I have sort of set it up and hopefully prepared everybody for the shock of Andretti not being accepted by saying time and again, the real problem is going to be current team owners who don’t want to have a smaller size of the financial cake,
“But I’ve said, the way to solve that is to give everybody a bit of a bonus and to sell them on how good the Andretti name would be for Formula 1 and get on with it. There’s too much of the tail wagging the dog there I think. It’s just one of the worst things Formula 1 has done in a long time.”
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