Andretti on comments Wolff
Simply have a qualify time like in the past 107% of fastest and if you qualify you can race, you qualify for 1 race you likely wont be there the next year, so only improving or good teams will stay. Why not? But then the quest is what should be the max amount of F1 cars on a track and have acceptable risk? Ah enough gap for politics and media to have fun with.
It is all about money, plain and simple. The current teams split the price money and broadcasting/advertising income between 10 teams. More teams = less income. With the F1 already having a challenge to even be profitable, case is clear.
It is not a good situation, but with the current Concorde, it is what it is. It is a private raceclass agreed between 10 teams, not a global sport.
It is hilarious that some here think Andretti Autosport is some little garage shop strapped for cash. They are capitalized for $290Million. They also have the potential for sponsorship based on their name and reputation, a history of winning, and a storied past that would add to the sport. Mercedes and Wolf can shove it - Andretti deserves a place on the grid, period.
Weird comment from Toto Wolff. He knows full well that Audi will not be an eleventh team. It's already been announced that they will buy 25% of the shares of Sauber in each of the next 3 years allowing the operation to run as Alfa-Romeo through 2025. In 2026 the team will operate under the Audi name running the "Audi" engine married to the Sauber chassis.
The truth here is the decision on the Andretti entry is F1's. The other teams should have no say in that decision. Of course they'll oppose having to share prize money.
Andretti teams race in many diverse and widespread forms of motorsport. The Andretti name is well known and they've been competitive. They are a racing company that plays to win in everything they do. If they want more competition there it is, knocking on the door with a fat bag of cash and a plan to compete, a deal with an engine supplier, and a famous racing family behind it all.
Maybe they rub people the wrong way, but if F1 were looking for an 11th team, it's right there. We already know neither Porsche, nor Audi, will field a new team.
Regulations allow for more cars on the grid. More cars will give younger and older drivers hope to get in, or extend a career.
Dominicali should explain to fans why this new team should not be on the grid as they have laid out the plan for being ready for 2024. This should have been dealt with already.
I think fans want new teams. It certainly isn't like Andretti will be short of sponsors and partners. They aren't asking to enter with some shady company called Rich Energy.
Andretti is well funded. They aren't coming in to be like Haas. They will arrive with a goal to figure out how to get to the front. It just makes F1 look weak, afraid of someone who wants to come in and be competitive. Unlike the teams who annually circle around in the rear, happy to take their share of year end money yet add no value to the sport. How dare they question if Andretti will add value to F1 when they already have teams that provide little more than some extra seats in the field.
IMO Andretti should be allowed in. Two extra seats for a new team with a winning culture would help the sport.
Toto is right, and it is obvious that he and Andretti care about their financial interests. The difference is that Toto believed in the sport years ago, invested a huge amount of time and money at a time when the sport was not making money for itself. Now that the popularity has increased enormously, the teams are starting to earn money. Andretti wants to jump on a moving train and take advantage of the success of Formula One. Add to that his demanding and loud behavior. Personally, I don't like it very much and I don't want it in formula 1. I'm convinced and I'm happy that the teams see it and that's why they don't want it. I'd love to see more teams, but like Toto says - like Audi. A global super brand that will have to fight for the highest bid, which will increase the competition. Not to mention their approach to business - instead of shouting loudly wherever they can, in the back room they are trying to get in step by step. This is what it expects from the top motorsport league
Andretti tried to enter F1 several times in the past but the FIA was more interested in teams that would bow to them like Manor, HRT, Virgin etc. At least Andretti would still have been on the grid now. As for Audi, its great they are getting involved but history again shows VW will pull the plug as soon as its not viable or part of the marketing plan. WEC, WRC etc. Came and went. Manufactureres in sport is never good.
Yes, how quickly they forget. They were begging for teams years ago. One team was kept on the grid and blessed with a double diffuser. Just so Brawn could sell the team for millions after he bought it for a dollar. You had one nut (windsor) applying for a team that was hidden on his laptop but ready to go. Yet they hold out letting Andretti in the series because things are all good now. Manufactures will leave the sport again and then F1 will ask Andretti to come to the dance.
My guess is:
Toto must know that Andretti could be possible competition from the get go. Audi might take a while to get into the game.
How would Toto agree if someone could compete with his little "sir"
I agree 100%! Toto has shown to me that he is a strategist and every decision and media position he takes is completely strategic and has a purpose!
He works the media to his own ends (like Horner and everyone else) to accomplish “something”! So when Toto says, “Id rather have Audi/Porsche in F1”. I interpret that to say, “I do NOT want to compete with Andretti! It’ll diminish my business model!”
The fact that Toto keeps running his mouth over who he wants to enter F1 and who he doesn't shows just how certain he is of his dirty influence in the sport. The man is poison and F1 would be better off without him.
Andretti is asking for media lobbying for his team. The fact is that F1 teams don't oppose a new team, but they do demand a solid compensation from any newcomers. That is the real issue here: money! Andretti can't fight the big manufacturers, he doesn't have the financial strength to battle them. I don't deny that he lives and breathes motorsport, but i don't think that's enough for participating in F1, much less for being successful in F1.
And yet Haas is in F1. Last time I checked, Haas has the lowest budget, yet is outperforming all pre-season expectations. Are you suggesting that Andretti would have fewer resources than Haas and that an Andretti team couldn't immediately compete with the likes of Haas, Aston Martin, or Williams?
Privateers are, and should be, the backbone of F1. Try as I might, I simply can't understand why F1` wouldn't want to add the Andretti name to the starting grid.
Context. The Haas example is from a different period of time. It was easier back then for privateers to enter the sport because the big manufacturers weren't as attracted as now. With the new regulations, lower costs, the interest is a lot bigger. This is why we can talk about Porsche today. I see no future for the Andretti team in these terms that exist right now.
I do not disagree that money is key, it seems like Andretti is just being squeezed harder than previous entrants.
The two possible solution for Andretti is either buy Haas (though it's probably WAY over valued), or find a manufacturing partner.
IMHO: partner with Honda provide PU's to RB until 2025 and buy Alpha Tauri?
All easier said than done..
Toto has no right to say what team can come in to f1 .who dose toto think he is .or is he sceard new team will make toto look silly
Wolff simply said Merc would rather Audi as an 11th team. You seem to have fundamental issues with comprehension.
Here you go again. Wolff has stated several times he doesnt want Andretti in F1. They only care about money and not about F1 itself.
Campbell's back to his self-righteous ways. 'Here you go again'. Stop being so idiotic (like yesterday)
He has nothing against Andretti specifically. It's a business proposition and they would rather a team that brings more to the sport competitively and financially. I think that's very clear. As is often the case you like to twist things ever so slightly to change the optics. Problem is you're not very good at it.
Here's what you originally wrote.
'He was pretty much groomed for F1 from a child by Ron Dennis and Norbert Haug etc (despite his claims to being underprivileged and having to scrape for everything he had) '
Distortion #1 - he has never claimed being underprivileged, only that he did not come from a privileged background.
Distortion #2. He raced karts very successfully for 5yrs winning multiple British championships before being invited into the McLaren young drivers programme. His father worked many jobs to finance that karting effort.
So yeah, thought so.
That's such a feeble twist. I mean why even bring it up? Just making noise.
Hmm, I never said he came from privilege. I stated clearly that he was privileged and it was his dad that was underprivileged. And you say im the one who twists words?
Lol. The way you portray it - 'stated several times he doesn't want Andretti in F1' is misleading because it implies it's personal. Total nonsense and what's called twisting. (Wait for Campbell to respond that he never implied that - lol).
Yesterday you were bizzarely trying to make the point that LH came from privilege because his father worked 4 jobs to finance his karting. More nonsense.
Nah, i tell it as I see it. Only you and a few others like to twist facts and arent all that good at it. But like you say and I said, its all about money and no care given about the actual sport. Manufacturers are the scum of sports. This has nothing to do with Audi. They are buying an eisting team and have no intention of setting up from scratch. Wolff is already aware of that and is just deflecting his own putrid BS hate for another competitive team joining the grid.
Toto doesn’t want an American team coming in and competing with him. LH is the biggest F1 star in the states and he sells a LOT of merchandise and lose fans. Tom Cruise can be seen hanging out in Merc’s garage.
Toto is not the only team principal expressing this rational. You can speculate all you like but how about you just see the actual interviews. Frederic Vasseur just said the very same thing and earlier this year Horner said the following - "Money is ultimately going to be a significant factor. Because it would be unfair to expect the other teams to pay for the additional new entrants to come in indirectly.” Trying to make this about evil Toto.. lol.
You may have a point but I would say that at most it's a smaller component of Merc's calculus. The main driver is the same as the other team principals - economics within the F1 ecosystem.
LOL, Toto is no more "evil" than any other team principal, he just happens to be the topic of discussion in this thread. (You're obviously a Merc/LH fan, nothing wrong with that)
That being said, so you don't think I'm just picking on Toto, like every principal, what they say publicly is calculated and has a strategic purpose. Therefore, when (in this case) Toto says he doesn't want Andretti in their F1 club, you can't just take what is said at face value.
Hence, ask yourself this, why was he so specific on why he wants Audi and not Andretti?
Fact: The most celebrated driver in terms of interest in and merch sales in the US is Merc & LH. Many US media outlets like CNN/MSNBC and ESPN portray him as the "Tiger Woods of F1'. When he comes to the states, he's the most covered F1 athlete and beloved by every celebrity trying to be around him.
Adding an American racing team, with a longer racing history, a LOT more success in racing, MUCH more money, popularity and a history of success in F1 than Haas (which we all know is a joke in F1) would threaten Merc's popularity in the fastest growing market for F1.
Please F1 does not need another privateer thats strapped for cash and fills their seats with pay to play drivers ?.
F1 needs more works teams, like Porsche, Audi and Honda .
I'm glad with any team as long as they got what it takes. RB is the best example. A soda company came in F1 and won 9 titles in 16 years.
As such, the question is, does Andretti have what it takes? Frankly, I would prefer Audi aswell tho.
Usually i agree with you but this is pure nonsense. F1 was built by racing teams working with manufacturers. We can look at F1 and other series and see how manufacturers come and go with little regard to the impact to the sport. Remember when BMW refused to sign the Concorde agreement and then pulled out of F1 leaving Sauber high and dry? How about Honda pulling out and in so much it's pornographic? If they didn't have Ross Brawn at the helm during one of their pullouts F1 history would be very very different right now. F1 needs teams like Andretti Racing to continue racing when the manufacturers decide to skip town.
You've misunderstood again the dynamics of F1.
Works teams come and go, bosses and directors and head of companies change and things can change in a second. One day 1 company loves F1, next day new boss and he tells, we don't need F1. Car companies is not the future of F1. Privateers are. Privateers breathe F1. It's being part of F1 or not existing at all. So you know they do whatever it takes to be there.
Just like it did in the 2000s. Oh yes, that right. The manufacturers left and nearly left no F1 if not for those privateer teams stepping in to fill the gaps. You dont know the first thing about F1 or what is good for it.
I think Andretti Autosport can be a good addition to F1. They have showed in the indycars that they can compete for the title and they have won the Indy500 several times. So the drivers are sure more capable then some of the drivers that have participated in the F1.
Dont forget IMSA LMP/LMPh also. They have done well in it too over the years with Honda etc
The main difference with Haas is they took over the Marussia Team and did not add an additional team to the grid.
The main opposition to Andretti coming into the sport is they want to add an 11th team in F1.
As the saying goes, "more men less share", so no one wants to have additional competition and diluting the prize pool.
If he can find a current team to take over, I am sure there wont be that much opposition, but to start a totally new one and to have 2 more cars on the grid, that is where other teams are opposed to.
From what I’ve read, it isn’t for a lack of trying, they are still attempting to takeover a team, however, they believe that starting a new one would be easier to enter the sport.
Haas should just sell to Andretti and leave it at that! However, their assets are so sparse that the ask is ridiculous!
I think any team should be able to join But only if they can prove they have the proper amount of cash in pocket to fund a F1 level team plus open their books to prove it; not just talk.
There's too much unique development, manufacturing, years of time and talent needed in place to race properly in F1. All of that takes big funds before hand. Small teams wanting to join with just the will to race and attitude will not succeed without the above. F1 group knows this.
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