Domenicali insists ‘process was followed’ regarding Andretti bid

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali says due process was followed in the case of Andretti Cadillac’s bid to join the grid, justifying the potential entrant’s rejection.

The American outfit’s long running saga unfolded in two stages. The team received an initial approval from the FIA, the governing body of motorsport, in October 2023.

However, Andretti’s bid faced a hurdle when Formula 1 denied their entry in January 2024. This decision triggered public criticism, with both Andretti and General Motors challenging F1's explanation.

Despite the rejection, Domenicali left the door open for a potential future entry in 2028, aligning with Cadillac's planned development of its own power unit.

However, such an entry would occur under a new Concorde Agreement, potentially with different terms than the current one.

• Read also: GM staying positive on Andretti Cadillac F1 bid

Speaking this week on a conference call with Wall Street analysts following the release of Formula 1’s 2023 financial results, Domenicali addressed both the past and the future.

He reiterated that F1 followed established protocols during the Andretti Cadillac review, and defended the way they presented the decision.

However, the Italian acknowledged the need for future discussions regarding a potential 11th team, which will be incorporated into the negotiations for the upcoming Concorde Agreement.

“For sure it's a point related to the Concorde Agreement,” Domenicali explained as he addressed the topic of adding an eleventh team to the grid.

“It's a point of a joint work that has to be done between the FIA and FOM in regard to the different kinds of evaluation that we need to do.

“So I think that with regard to what has happened [with Andretti Cadillac], I think that the process has been followed, and we presented the result in the right way.

“For the future it's a matter of discussion, of course, with the teams, with the right commercial and technical proposition that will be discussed accordingly, within this year."

Broad discussions over the sport’s next Concorde Agreement have taken place but Domenciali expects to sit down with F1’s teams and iron out the details of the future covenant in the near future.

"We expect to address the renewal of the Concorde Agreement with the teams very, very shortly,” he said.

“Our view that is basically shared with the teams is that basically the Concorde Agreement will not need any substantial changes this time around.

“So we're going to start very, very soon. We had priority to finalise before the end of season talking about regulations, and other stuff with regard to other things that need to be solved before.

"So now, we're getting close to the time where we're going to start this discussion. Very, very shortly, as I said."

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