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REPORTS: IndyCar Powerhouse Interested in Buying Out Alfa Romeo F1

Published 08/21/2021, 6:59 AM EDT

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via Reuters

Former F1 driver Michael Andretti has made his intention to acquire an F1 team. The American legend already has teams in other categories of motorsports. It is reported that he is in talks to acquire one of the prominent names in Formula One. Andretti had links with the Haas F1 team, but it did not lead to any conclusion.

Now, he has turned his attention to Alfa Romeo and Williams, with an acquisition of the former more likely since Williams was acquired by American investment, Dorilton Capital, last year and Alfa Romeo has a year-on-year deal with Sauber motorsports. Meaning Alfa Romeo can pull out any given year, leaving room for Andretti motorsports to buy-in.

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If the right opportunity comes up, we’ll be all over it: Andretti

As reported by Racer, Michael Andretti has stated that if the right opportunity comes up in F1, he will certainly make a bid to acquire an F1 team.

” It would be great, but there’s a long way to go if it were to happen,” Andretti told RACER. “If the right opportunity comes up, we’ll be all over it. But we’re not there yet,” said Michael Andretti.

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via Imago

Interestingly, Michael Andretti’s father, Mario, raced for the Alfa Romeo in the 1981 season. So, there is a romantic motivation for Michael behind the desire to acquire the Swiss team.

The problem that Andretti could face in starting a new F1 team is the Concorde agreement. The agreement states a 200 million buy-in fee for any new entrants who are looking to start any new teams. Hence, acquiring an existing team is much cheaper.

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I would love for the team to score more points: Alfa Romeo team principal

Alfa Romeo Racing has scored just 3 points this season. Despite having a faster race car than its rivals Williams, the Swiss team is 7 points behind the British team. But Alfa Romeo team principal Fred Vasseur has mentioned the reason behind the team’s disappointing start to 2021.

via Reuters

I would love for the team to score more points. We’ve made some big efforts inside the team, but the main reason that we are losing a little bit in performance from the beginning of the season is that we switched, from January to 100 percent in 2022,” said Vasseur.

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“When I see the updates from the other teams, even if they all say that they switched to the 2022 car, they have updates every single weekend! But when we decided I knew that if you switch 100 percent to the next year’s car, then you won’t develop the 2021 car. And that’s the case.” concluded the Alfa Romeo team boss.

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The Swiss team will look to bounce back and try to finish the 2021 season ahead of Williams.

Can Alfa Romeo finish ahead of Williams in 8th? Let us know.

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Written by:

Devang Chauhan

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Devang Chauhan is an F1 author at EssentiallySports. Having completed his graduation in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has a keen eye for writing engaging and detailed articles on F1. Previously a writer for Sport Social's 'Chase Your Sport' Magazine, Devang has been a ardent follower of the sport for over a decade and has attended two editions of the Indian Grand Prix.
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