F1 News: Andretti Cadillac Receives Support From British Team

Zak Brown, the chief executive of McLaren, has expressed support for Andretti Cadillac's endeavor to secure a spot in Formula 1 in either 2025 or 2026 after the latter received official approval from the FIA.

Although the American team was met with some resistance from the owners of Formula 1 and several other team principals, Andretti remains optimistic about securing a spot on the grid. The ball now remains in F1's court to assess the new team's financial strengths so it can bring more to the sport. 

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What makes the new team's bid stronger is the announcement made last month by General Motors to become an engine supplier from the 2028 season.

Speaking on the Track Limits podcast, the McLaren chief analysed the hopeful entry. He said:

“The pros is they can help grow the pie.

“That pie can be fans, first and foremost; that can be television revenue; that could be increased exposure in a certain market that helps to bring in more sponsors; excitement on the racetrack.

“The downside is if the pie doesn’t get larger, and then you’re just divvying up the same-sized pie, and that’s where I think the majority of the the teams are.

“I think all of us are not that informed on what the actual proposal is, so everyone is running around with an opinion. I’ve not seen specifically what’s on the table.

“My view is as long as it’s additive to the sport – brings in more fans, brings in more revenue, brings in better television contracts, whatever that may be – if it makes the pie larger I’d rather have one 11th of a pie that’s 1,000 times than one tenth of one that’s 100 times.

“But ultimately the teams don’t have a vote in the matter, so we just need to be dependent upon Formula 1 and the FIA to make that decision as to whether they feel it’s additive.

“I think everyone has an opinion, but not anyone is that educated on actually what the proposition is.”