U.S. Congress members pen letter to Liberty Media, join Andretti fight to join F1 grid

Days ahead of Andretti Global's second planned meeting with Formula 1 Management executives to discuss the team's denied bid to join the F1 grid as an expansion team, a bipartisan group of Congressional members sent a letter to Greg Maffei, the president and CEO of Liberty Media (which owns FOM) to express "concerns with apparent anti-competitive actions" that have stonewalled Andretti from joining the pinnacle of motorsports.

Wednesday, Mario Andretti, the father of Andretti Global co-owner Michael Andretti, met on Capitol Hill with Rep. John James (R-Mich.) and spoke at a press conference flanked by James and a pair of House representatives from Indiana, Greg Pence and Victoria Spartz, to discuss the maneuver. Among the 12 people who have signed the letter sent to Maffei are Indiana House members Jim Banks, Erin Houchin, Andre Carson and Rudy Yakym III.

The letter comes roughly three months after FOM resoundingly rejected Andretti Global's bid after it was the only project accepted by the FIA, F1's sanctioning body, in the fall. Stated in a public denial letter by FOM, its concerns of Andretti Global's proposal included:

• It's unlikelihood to be competitive.

• It's lack of value to the sport and its current stakeholders, while syphoning prize winnings from current teams.

• That Andretti Global would gain more from its admission to the grid than vice versa.

• The belief that Andretti decisionmakers failed to understand the scope and difficulty of the project.

• That General Motors, Andretti's partner on the project, would not be joining F1 as an engine manufacturer until 2028.

At that time, though, F1 said it might "look differently on an application for the entry of a team into the 2028 championship" when it could come in with GM -- though F1's entry fee is likely to triple (or more) from where it currently is or the series' governance document could be altered to restrict the grid to 10 full-time teams. Last month, Mario Andretti told IndyStar at IndyCar's Grand Prix of Long Beach that Andretti Global's F1 push was now boom-or-bust for 2026.

Ahead of a meeting at this weekend's Miami Grand Prix with FOM leaders, this show of force with members of Congress would appear to be a coordinated effort to ramp up public pressure on a parent company based out of Colorado.

"We are grateful to the bipartisan members of Congress for their support in challenging this anti-competitive behavior," Andretti Global said Wednesday in a statement. "We remain committed to bringing the first U.S. works team and power unit to F1 and to giving American fans a home team to root for.

"It is our hope that this can be resolved swiftly so that Andretti Cadillac can take its rightfully approved place on the grid in 2026. Our work continues at pace."

'If they want blood, I'm ready': Mario Andretti offended by FOM's rejection

In the letter, members of Congress accused FOM's rejection of Andretti Cadillac's bid of being "driven by the current lineup of European Formula 1 race teams, many of which are affiliated with foreign automobile manufacturers that directly compete with American automotive companies like GM."

"It is unfair and wrong to attempt to block American companies from joining Formula 1, which could also violate American antitrust laws," the letter continued. "Participation of all Formula 1 teams -- including any American teams -- should be based on merit and not just limited to protecting the current lineup of race teams.

"This is especially true considering Formula 1's growing presence in the United States, including three (Grand Prix events) in Miami, Fla.; Austin, Texas; and Las Vegas, N.V."

The signees then moved to ask Maffei to address three questions by May 3, "as we continue to exercise oversight on this matter, and with the appropriate Federal regulators, to ensure that any potential violations of U.S. anticompetition law are expeditiously investigated and pursued."

Among those questions:

1. "Under what authority does FOM proceed to reject admission of Andretti Global? What is the rationale for FOM's rejection, especially with respect to Andretti Globabl and its partner GM, potentially being the first American-owned and American-built race team?"

2. "The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 outlaws unreasonable restraints on market competition to produce the best outcome for the American consumer. how does FOM's denial of Andretti Global and GM, American-owned companies, square with Sherman Act requirements, since the decision will benefit incumbent European racing teams and their foreign automobile manufacturing affiliates?"

3. "We understand that GM intends to re-introduce its Cadillac brand into the European market, which would support thousands of good-paying American automotive jobs, especially with Formula 1's worldwide audience and its halo effect on its teams and sponsors. How much did GM's and Andretti's entrance into racing competition taking a portion of the racing market share and GM's entry into the European market taking market share each play into the decision to deny admission to the Andretti Global team, given the public outcry of incumbent Formula 1 teams against a new American competitor?"

Last month, the elder Andretti joined Andretti Global officials to mark the grand-opening of the team's new 48,000 square-foot shop in the U.K. at Silverstone Park that will house all the current work on its F1 project, while the team's new U.S. headquarters in Fishers continues construction. Earlier this year, the team noted it had hired 120 people -- most part of the project's technical team -- to spearhead the F1 project that has since had a 60% scale model car that it has run in Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. The team has plans to build a full-scale Andretti Global chassis to run through homologation testing later this year.

The team's technical director, Nick Chester, has spent more than two decades in the sport and said in January that he had hired an aerodynamics chief who'd been at Williams and Renault (now Alpine), as well as a chief designer with four decades working in F1. Other hires come with time spent at Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren. Additionally, GM has already dedicated 50 engineers to contributing to wind tunnel work, manufacturing parts and developing the car's roll hoop design and hydraulic systems at its Charlotte, N.C. base.

From January: F1 rejects Andretti Global's bid to join in '25, leaves door open for future

"We're trying to say, 'We'll do whatever you ask of us. We know the Concorde Agreement and so forth, but we'll do whatever is there. If you think of something, tell us,'" Mario Andretti told IndyStar at Long Beach. "But they haven't told us yet, except for some excuses like, 'Oh, we don't want you coming in. We don't want to be embarrassed.'

"But we don't want to embarrass ourselves either. And the fact is, General Motors has made it so clear that they're excited about this project. They have a long-term commitment, and I don't know what else we can do. Michael, he's got me working like crazy, and normally, I'd say, 'I don't need a job.' But I'll go in the fire with him. We just want to have some reason here."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Congress members join Andretti Global's fight to join F1 grid