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The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is investigating the denial of Andretti Global’s application to join the Formula 1 grid for 2025 or 2026.
In a letter sent to Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, who was obtained by BNCChairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) requested a variety of documents and communications as well as a “staff-level briefing” on Formula 1 management’s decision to decline Andretti’s offer .
“Delaying Andretti Cadillac’s entry into Formula 1 by one year will harm American consumers to the benefit of bankrupt Formula 1 teams,” Jordan wrote. “Limiting the number of teams in Formula 1 will increase the price of sponsoring or purchasing an existing Formula 1 team. As the committee examines this issue and considers potential legislation around the structure and competition of sports leagues, we write to request a staff-level briefing on the decision to decline Andretti Cadillac’s application to join Formula 1.”
Liberty Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of business hours. F1 declined to comment.
This is an intensified movement outside the House of Representatives. This comes after 12 members – not including Jordan – signed a letter to Maffei last week that raised “concerns about apparent anti-competitive actions that could prevent two US companies, Andretti Global and General Motors (GM), from producing and compete in Formula 1. .” None of these members serve on the House Judiciary Committee, which, Jordan writes, “is charged with examining the sufficiency of federal competition laws to protect against monopolies and other unfair restrictions on commerce.”
The FIA approved Andretti’s candidacy last fall based on his technical and sporting merits. Commercial rights holder Formula One Management (FOM) had the final say and rejected the offer in January, but did not completely rule out the possibility of the team being involved in the future. F1 said it would “look differently at a request for a team’s entry into the 2028 championship”, when GM plans to build its first engine.
In his letter, Jordan also mentioned the notion of value. “Formula 1 alleged that a new team could only add value to Formula 1 by ‘competing for podiums and race victories,'” he wrote. “However, the FIA had already analyzed – and approved – the technical abilities of Andretti (Cadilac) (sic) to compete among the current teams, and most of the current teams in Formula 1 do not meet the standards of Formula 1 consisting to compete regularly for podiums and race wins.’
All 10 F1 teams have expressed concerns about grid expansion, fearing it could cause financial instability, and adding Andretti would mean splitting revenue 11 ways instead of 10. He appears in The letter says Jordan agrees with a statement by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem at a roundtable last fall about concerns within F1. The representative cited Ben Sulayem’s quote during that roundtable, writing: “The truth, as FIA President Muhamed Ben Sulayem explained, is that the rejection of Andretti Cadillac is ‘a question of’ money'”.
But is the network financially stable? James Vowles, Williams team principal, said in Qatar last year: “You have to know that we are not the only ones who are not financially stable. I’d say that’s probably not the case for half the grid. Jordan also highlighted part of this comment in his letter, later adding: “If Formula 1 must hinder competition and harm consumers to protect failing competitors, then the entire Formula 1 model could be broken and the entity cannot hide behind the need for a sports league. to pursue anti-competitive behavior.
Jordan requested a host of documents and communications, including information regarding the evaluation of the new registrations and Andretti as well as “all documents and communications between or among Formula One Group or Liberty Media and the ten current Formula One teams 1 referring to or relating to the registration of a new team or teams in Formula 1.” Finally, he wishes that communications and documents concerning the Concorde Agreement (the constitutive document of the sport), which will expire in 2025, namely “all documents and communications referring to or relating to the right of entry or the right of dilution in the current Concorde Agreement and possible modifications to the right of entry or the right of dilution in a future Concorde Agreement.
Jordan requested that the briefing be scheduled “as soon as possible, but no later than 5 p.m. on May 21, 2024.”
Required reading:
(Lead photo by Michael Andretti: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)