Wednesday’s decision by Formula 1 management to deny Andretti Global’s entry into the sport was a stunner for many in the United States, who believed that the popular name would boost the market in a country where the sport has begun to pay off. But will that happen?
Perhaps it won’t. Just recently, the Netflix hit Drive to Survive went into American websites and gave the sport a boost to individuals who began to understand how the sport is run and how Formula 1 works. But in general, this is a soap opera of acting Formula 1 drivers that excited the audience and made them understand the sport.
But to make the sport more popular in the U.S., it needs more than just a Netflix program. It needs an American driver, an American team, and domestic places to hold grand prix. This, in a way, has been achieved, but in more of a greedy, money-grabbing way, where the American popularity of the sport is more measured in the American dollar to foreign entities, not how the fans are welcomed in the United States on the sport.
If you ask any fan in the U.S. about how their opinion about this sport, it might be more in a negative way. One American driver, Logan Sargeant, became a rookie last season and has just renewed his contract with a British team, Williams Racing. However, Sargeant only achieved one point in the whole of last season and needs to improve if he is to be respected by the American audience himself. More importantly, he needs to be on an American team since he is the only driver who went through the entire process to advance to the top tier of motorsport. But where he is now is not popular with the American audience, who like winners.
There are three races in the U.S. today–in Austin, Texas, which draws many there and has been around for many years, along with the newcomers in Miami, Florida, and Las Vegas, Nevada. The last two have been successful, but as was mentioned, the contracts prove that. That’s important to say because Formula 1 management is only after the money, not the popularity of the events. If the event loses its audience, Formula 1 could pull it away from the schedule, damaging the sport. If Andretti eventually does not get into F1, then some of the American audience could withdraw from watching the sport, both on television and in person.
In a way, there is an American team, Haas F1, that has nothing to do with trying to publicize the sport, except for the only American that is known to be on the team. That is the CEO Gene Haas, who wants to keep a small budget with the cooperation of Ferrari to assist his issues. It does not fit well with the audience in the United States, especially now with the loss of Guenter Steiner, who thought that more money and assistance of additional employees would make the team get into the chance to compete against the midfield teams that were not good with Haas, That led recently to Steiner’s dismissal, even though he had been around since the start of the organization.
There is still a chance with Andretti. Although it will be four years before the chance to reapply for the entry of F1, time is not the major issue. The big hurdle is if the team can coordinate an engine deal with Detroit-based Cadillac, which expects to challenge their cross-town rival Ford, who will enter F1 with an engine deal with Red Bull Racing in 2026. However, Cadillac might not enter if they cannot merge with Andretti as their supplier. Just having the company supply engines to F1 teams might not go well, especially if Andretti is left out of the deal.
So, whether the Andretti Group will return is unknown, but at least it will have time to persuade Formula 1 to enter and be challenging, which is why F1 rejected their entry. Meanwhile, Haas carries the American entry. But if that team does not gain more American popularity, then the sport will lose another chance to get the attention it deserves.
