Formula 1’s CEO Stefano Domenicali has criticised Andretti Global for its public approach to gaining access to the grid.
The F1 boss explained that he thought the US hopeful was “not smart” in saying that F1 teams are greedy, stressing that there are other, less vocal, teams interested in joining the grid.
The Italian revealed that he has discussed Andretti’s actions “very openly”, telling them: “I would have acted in a different way”.
In an announcement made in January, Andretti Global officially announced their intention to join F1 with General Motors, after spending much of the 2022 season discussing the possibility of expanding the current F1 grid.
The topic has been open to much debate in recent months, with F1 being publicly less enthusiastic than the FIA President Mohammad Ben Sulayem would have hoped, further fuelling the public spat between F1 and its governing body.
“First of all, we are very welcoming of everyone that is bringing value to the racing,” Domenicali told Sky Sports F1.
“I think we need to respect everyone. There are teams like Mario and Michael Andretti being very vocal about their will to enter Formula 1. But in my view [it is] not smart to say that teams are greedy.
“There are others that are much less vocal that would like to come into Formula 1, so there is a process to respect and we will make sure together with the FIA that the process will be respected.”
The FIA formally opened the application process last week to identify new teams that would be looking to enter F1 from 2025, and after Andretti, Panthera Team Asia became the second team to put itself forward.
“If all the elements are there, they will be very welcome,” added Domenicali of an 11th team joining the grid. “There are a lot of dimensions to consider and we don’t have to overreact because someone is pushing the system.
“The process will be done seriously in the right way someone is shouting and someone is not shouting.”
