Andretti Global, General Motors partnering on Formula One's 'expression of interest' process

Andretti Global has partnered with General Motors to pursue the FIA's Formula 1 'expression of interest' process, the companies announced Thursday, following Michael Andretti's year-plus push to get his famous family name entered into the pinnacle of motorsports. The news comes after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem tweeted Monday that he had asked his FIA team "to look at launching an Expressions of Interest process for prospective new teams for the FIA F1 World Championship."

The tweet from the FIA president was the first serious signal from either it or Formula 1's governing body that an 11th team may actually be able to break onto the grid in the near future. Back in February, Mario Andretti tweeted that his son Michael had filed paperwork with FIA to pursue such an endeavor, but until this week, FIA had not stated it was open to the proper application process that a new need would need to officially join the grid.

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"I'd like to thank the FIA and President Mohammed for their recent interest in exploring the 'expression of interest process,'" Michael Andretti said Thursday. "Mohammed is a real racer and has a true passion for the sport, and I appreciate his transparency and willingness to be open to this process.

"I'm really proud to be able to be part of a fellow American company to be part of this pursuit to join Formula 1. GM and Andretti both have a strong history in racing, and I think together we have a lot to offer."

As recently as last month, Andretti told IndyStar he was still targeting to be on the F1 grid in 2024, even though his team's new massive racing headquarters in Fishers wouldn't be ready until 2025. He said at the time he had plans in place to farm out his team's first car before bringing the program in-house for 2025 and beyond. But Thursday, Andretti was more murky on his team's new target date for F1 entry, saying, "We don't know yet exactly when it's all going to happen. That will depend on the 'expression of interest' (process) and how that takes and where we are, but we are going to be on-track as soon as it makes sense to be on-track."

Earlier this year, Andretti had been strongly linked with Alpine as an engine partner for Andretti Global's future endeavors -- to the point that Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi had been one of just two F1 team principals willing to put his signature on an informal petition Andretti had been circulating in the Miami Grand Prix paddock, searching for support of his team's hopeful entry into the sport.

Given that the deadline for the new engine regulations for 2026 have come and gone without GM expressing its interest, Andretti and GM president Mark Reuss said Thursday the companies have linked up with another current manufacturer to get the project off the ground if and when it's approved by the FIA.

"We have a signed agreement with a power unit supply to begin with," Reuss said. "And then, as we move forward, we'll bring a lot of our expertise to create things in the future as well."

Andretti added that he'd refer to it as "a collaboration to startwith another manufacturer."

In response to the idea that stakeholders within FOM still may not be keen to Andretti Global expanding the grid to 11 teams and taking a slice of the ultra-lucrative F1 pie -- and that they may continue to prove to be a vocal deterrent -- Andretti said Thursday, "1000% I believe (we have a shot at this). I believe we check every box that needs to be checked in order to enter F1. I think we're definitely ahead of our competition to get there. I feel very, very confident that we'll be on the grid soon."

Nathan Brown is a reporter for the Indianapolis Star. Follow him on Twitter @By_NathanBrown

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Andretti, General Motors partner on Formula 1's expression of interest