Andretti wants to give American drivers "legitimate shot" in F1
Michael Andretti is eager to "pave the way" for American drivers to reach Formula 1 with a "legitimate shot" if his plan to form a new team is successful.


Andretti is currently pushing to establish an F1 operation that would join the grid from 2024 as an 11th team after seeing his bid to acquire Sauber, which operates the Alfa Romeo squad, fall apart late last year.
Although the FIA is yet to open up the official process for new teams to join F1, Andretti - the son of 1978 world champion Mario Andretti - was in Miami to try and gain support for his bid, holding meetings with the FIA, F1 and other team bosses.
But the reaction from teams has remained lukewarm amid concerns that an 11th team joining the grid would lead to the prize money fund being diluted and disrupting the current stability of the 10-team field.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said he felt an American driver would be more effective for F1’s growth in the United States than adding an American team in the form of Andretti, which already has teams in IndyCar, Indy Lights, Formula E, Extreme E and Supercars.
Andretti disagreed with Horner’s assessment, explaining that only his new team would offer American drivers the opportunity they need to get into F1.
“We want to be an American team that wants to be developing American drivers for the future,” Andretti said.
“There’s nobody out there that’s doing that. That’s where we want to be. There’s no real legitimate road for an American driver to get into F1. There just isn’t.
“We want to pave the way to F1.”

Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport Honda
Photo by: IndyCar Series
Had Andretti’s bid to take over Sauber been successful, the plan was to place his IndyCar driver, Colton Herta, in one of the race seats. Herta completed some simulator running in Hinwil, and was being lined up for an FP1 appearance towards the end of last year before the deal fell apart.
Andretti remains committed to fielding Herta as one of the drivers, calling him a “perfect example” of an American who should already be in F1.
“He should be in F1 right now, he’s got that talent, but they ran out of money, so they came back to the States,” Andretti said.
“So he went [the American] route. I want to make it where we can bring kids out of go-karts and give them the path, and if they’re good enough, they’ll hopefully get to Formula 1, and we’ll have the team to do it.
“And we would know they’re going to get a legitimate shot. There’s not going to be any that they’re out there full of fuel and they don’t know it, that type of thing.
“There’s going to be a legitimate deal.”
Related video

F1 will not replace Russian GP as 2022 calendar stays at 22 races
How Vegas went from byword for F1 indifference to grand Liberty coup

Latest news
Why F1 2022 tech isn’t all about porpoising and sidepods
Once fears over identikit Formula 1 cars were allayed by visibly different approaches to sidepods and floors, other novel design features have cropped up around the rest of the car.
Bottas feels greater "human effect" on F1 car performance at Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas feels he is able to have a greater "human effect" on the performance of his Alfa Romeo Formula 1 car compared to what he found at Mercedes.
Norris: Long-term McLaren F1 deal allows for better work-life balance
Lando Norris believes his long-term Formula 1 deal with McLaren has allowed him to strike a better work-life balance and relax more away from racing.
The 10 stories to watch out for across the rest of the 2022 F1 season
It’s 13 down, nine to go as the Formula 1 teams pause for breath in the summer break. But what can we expect to happen over the next three months from Belgium to Abu Dhabi? Here's the key storylines to keep an eye out for the rest of the 2022 season
The 10 stories to watch out for across the rest of the 2022 F1 season
It’s 13 down, nine to go as the Formula 1 teams pause for breath in the summer break. But what can we expect to happen over the next three months from Belgium to Abu Dhabi? Here's the key storylines to keep an eye out for the rest of the 2022 season
The inconvenient truth about F1’s ‘American driver’ dream
OPINION: The Formula 1 grid's wait for a new American driver looks set to continue into 2023 as the few remaining places up for grabs - most notably at McLaren - look set to go elsewhere. This is despite the Woking outfit giving tests to IndyCar aces recently, showing that the Stateside single-seater series still has some way to go to being seen as a viable feeder option for F1
How a bad car creates the ultimate engineering challenge
While creating a car that is woefully off the pace is a nightmare scenario for any team, it inadvertently generates the test any engineering department would relish: to turn it into a winner. As Mercedes takes on that challenge in Formula 1 this season, McLaren’s former head of vehicle engineering reveals how the team pulled of the feat in 2009 with Lewis Hamilton
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate and devoid of the usual racing driver airs and graces, Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24 into a winning car with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel. And now it’s happening again at his current team, but can the rate of progress be matched this year?
Why few could blame Leclerc for following the example of Hamilton’s exit bombshell
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior