Mercedes Boss Eats His Words Regarding Andretti F1 Entry: “Quite a Statement”

Most F1 teams opposed the idea of Mario Andretti floating an 11th team on the grid. Among them was Mercedes, and their team principal Toto Wolff let his feelings known unhinged publically. Toto wasn’t sure of the benefit of Andretti’s entry despite the announcement of the tie-up with General Motors-Cadillac. However, his latest comments reveal that he may finally have come around to the idea of having them in the championship.

Last month, Andretti went a step further in banding his F1 team by announcing the partnership with General Motors, a move that was lauded by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Toto Wolff, overall, showed a positive attitude to the partnership. In fact, he lauded Cadillac’s “pedigree in motorsport, and as a global auto company”. He was largely unconvinced about how their entry into F1 would be beneficial for the sport, though.

His latest comments, however, paint a different picture altogether. Speaking with F1 media, Formula Rapida quoted him as saying, “Cadillac and GM, that’s a statement.”

“Certainly, them joining forces with Andretti is definitely a positive. It gives it another angle that may or may not be beneficial for Formula 1. But definitely nobody would ever question GM’s or Cadillac’s pedigree in motorsport, and obviously as a global auto company.”

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After the FIA president’s comments, the existing teams received a lot of flak for their reluctance to have an 11th team. However, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner recently revealed that it was not just incumbent teams that were against Andretti’s entry.

Christian Horner spills the beans on Liberty Media’s opposition to Mario Andretti and Cadillac’s entry

The F1 world is lately witnessing instances of FIA and Liberty Media locking horns on various issues. One of those is Andretti and his potential of floating an 11th team in the championship. Most of the existing teams are unwilling to have their share in prize money reduced by 10 percent. However, Liberty Media has its own reservations.

Horner spoke with Racer recently. He said, “you’ve got the Liberty (Media) guys saying, ‘Well we’re not going to pay for it, we’re happy with 10 healthy, competitive franchises from an operational perspective — garages, logistics, motorhomes — it’s all more to accommodate.’ I’m sure they would prefer the Audi model, where they come in and acquire an existing franchise.”

“If you introduce another one or two teams, you dilute the value of the current 10 franchises, which of course teams — particularly down towards the bottom end of the grid — have got a very inflated inherent value at the moment.”

The only two teams, Horner revealed, were in favor of having Andretti in the competition are McLaren and Alpine. The reason is either that they are in partnership with Andretti or could potentially be their engine supplier.

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Do you think the all-new American team can prove its worth in F1? Or are the existing teams’ reservations justified?