Andretti Cadillac
Editorials Formula 1

F1: Andretti team now has clear direction on requirements to enter F1

Posted by AR1 staff

With today’s announcement by the FIA formally opening up applications for new teams that want to enter F1, the Andretti Global Team in partnership with Cadillac, now have clear direction on what paperwork they must submit for their application.

5-Step Process

Step 1:  Applicant must submit a Preliminary Expression of Interest by Wednesday, February 15th.

Step 2: FIA approves or denies Preliminary Expression of Interest 48 hours after receipt, or by Friday, February 17th, whichever is latest.

Step 3: If approved in Step 2, applicant must submit a formal application by April 30th.

Step 4: FIA has the right to request further explanation or additional detail of any part of the formal application. No specific date has been given for this additional request, if any.

Step 5: The FIA either approves or denies entry by June 30th.

In my view, the process should be fairly straightforward for Andretti and Cadillac.

The portion of their application that will require their most attention will be the FIA’s assessment of the value that the candidate may bring to the Championship, including consideration of its Reputation and Integrity.

While the FIA does not need any convincing of the value the Andretti/Cadillac entry will bring to the sport, the teams must also approve the entry, and they keep questioning why they should approve if the 11th team will only dilute their winnings.

I laid out the details of the impact in this article, and it’s clear that the $200 million Andretti entry fee, to be divided between each team, will cover any perceived loss the first two years, except the top-2 teams will see a small loss in revenue.

By year 3 (2028), my analysis assumes that Liberty Media’s F1 revenue will grow from the current $2.5B to $3B as a result of the Andretti entry and all the teams will be getting over $10 million each per year in additional revenue sharing.  If the $3B threshold is not reached, even an increase from $2.5B to $2.6B will make all the teams whole financially.

Andretti’s application will need to project the ‘added’ value of their entry on Liberty Media’s annual F1 revenue.

Liberty Media gets all the TV broadcast revenue, trackside advertising and hospitality revenue, having said that some of the tracks are allowed to have their own advertising banners etc. but they have to pay an extra fee to F1.

Examples of possible Andretti/Cadillac added value to Liberty Media F1 revenue:

  1. Cadillac track signage at multiple events per year
  2. Other GM product line (Chevy, Buick, GMC, ACDelco) track signage at select events
  3. Cadillac TV advertising during race broadcasts
  4. Other GM product line (Chevy, Buick, GMC, ACDelco) advertising during TV broadcasts
  5. Andretti/Cadillac hospitality at each race
  6. Increased USA TV ratings
  7. Cadillac’s interest already got Ford interested, What other OEMs will want to enter F1 as a result of Cadillac’s entry?
  8. Etc.

Mark Cipolloni reporting for AutoRacing1.com