Andretti admits to trying to buy Haas 'millions of times'

Michael Andretti says he has spared no effort to try and convince team owner Gene Haas to sell him his F1 outfit, insisting he's reached out to the latter "millions of times" in the last two years.

After missing out last year on a deal to acquire a majority stake in Sauber Motorsport which operates the Alfa Romeo F1 team, Andretti recently revealed its objective of setting up his own F1, Andretti Global, to compete from 2024 in the F World Championship.

The prolific IndyCar team owner, who also has interest in several other motorsport endeavors such as Formula E, said that Andretti Global's plans were well underway and that an entry had been submitted for consideration by the FIA while the mandatory $200 million entry fee that he would need to pay if the governing body accepts Andretti's bid has already been accounted for.

Although he is pressing on with his plan to set up his own team, Michael Andretti revealed in an interview with the Associated Press that he is still keeping track of Haas, having reached out to its eponymous team owner "millions of times", but without ever convincing Gene Haas to agree to a deal.

"He doesn’t want to sell," Andretti told the AP. "If he wants to sell, tell him to call me. That makes it a lot easier for us.

"The last conversation I had with him was probably around October or November. He told me he didn’t care if he’s running in the back, says it works for him anyway."

• Read also: New Andretti F1 team 'not just a whim or bucket list thing'

After an encouraging start to its career in F1 in 2016 and after achieving a fifth-place finish in F1's Constructors' Championship, Haas has been going downhill ever since.

The US outfit's future in the sport is often the subject of much speculation. Yet despite its mediocre results, the team continues to make up the numbers in F1.

"I’m going to put it out there: if he [Gene Haas] wants us to call him, we’ll call him. He’s got my number," Andretti told The Race ahead of this weekend IndyCar season opener in St. Petersburg.

"He’s a funny dude, hard to read. He could get sick of it, I don’t know."

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter