Zak Brown, McLaren CEO, welcomes the idea of Andretti joining Formula 1. He claims that the rival teams are short sighted in questioning the new entry.
Reportedly, American outfit – Andretti – has engaged FIA over the possibility of joining Formula 1 from 2024. The company failed to join the sport last year as it failed to take over Alfa Romeo outfit.
Andretti’s intent to join the sport has generated huge interest. However, not all teams are convinced of new entry. The team’s does not support the idea of automatic slot provision to new entrants.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes Boss, and Christian Horner, Red Bull boss, echoed on the matter. They want the American brand to prove its worth to F1. They questioned the added value to F1, if the green light is given to it.
“We are the absolute pinnacle, this is the Champions League, or the NFL, and redistributing franchises is not the goal, that’s not how it should be, and it’s not the intention of F1 and the FIA neither,” said Wolff.
Brown on Andretti
However, Brown is convinced about Andretti. He claims that it is the right opportunity for the F1 to grow. He thinks that with the induction of new entry all teams will gain from its entry,
“I think Andretti as a name, as a highly credible racing team. Knowing who his backers are, and who he is, they will no doubt help us grow the sport in North America,” said Brown.
“I think the teams that may not support another team are being short-sighted.
“Are we trying to grow the sport? Or are we doing what racing teams have a bad tendency to do, which is think about today and not the future.”
He addressed the concern that most teams share is the financial impact. Because the television rights income could decrease. And the revenue will have to be shared among 11 teams rather than 10.
Read More: Andretti will need to prove worth to join F1
F1’s Concorde Agreement requires new entrant to pay $200mn dilution fee for the potential financial loss to the teams.
“There is the dilution payment, which kind of covers you for a couple of years,” said Brown.
“But you have to assume that Andretti will help us grow in North America, which will compensate for any dilution.
“If that is $100 million, can they help us grow $100 million more in revenue for the sport through TV and interest in sport? I think so.
“And the easiest thing after is to continue to look to reduce expenditure. In three or four year’s time, after the dilution payment is no longer in, just reduce our budget by $10 million a year.”
