MONACO – Red Bull boss Christian Horner expressed his surprise that Formula 1’s decision to block Andretti Cadillac’s bid to join the series had reached the US Congress.
This week, six US senators asked the Justice Department to examine whether F1’s decision to block Andretti Cadillac from becoming the 11th F1 team violated any antitrust laws.
“I was surprised to see that Andretti followed this process, but I hope that if they really want to find a path to the grid, they will,” team boss Horner said on Friday at the Monaco Grand Prix. “I think the most natural solution is to acquire an existing franchise if someone wants to sell.”
GM, under its Cadillac brand, is part of the Andretti Cadillac effort that was denied by Formula One Management in its request to expand the F1 grid.
Although Michael Andretti’s candidacy was approved by motorsport’s governing body, the FIA, the FOM rejected his application for membership in 2025 or 2026 because they did not believe Andretti would be competitive.
F1 management has softened its stance somewhat with a promise to reconsider the application in 2028, when GM has a race-ready engine.
Horner said he “absolutely” welcomed Andretti and Cadillac to F1. Michael Andretti, who competed in 13 races as an F1 driver, is the son of 1978 world champion Mario Andretti.
“Andretti has a great automobile heritage. Mario is a sports legend. And, of course, Cadillac (is) a major U.S. automotive manufacturer,” Horner said. “I think to protect the current franchises and the stability that we have in the sport, then obviously the best route to goal is to acquire one of the existing teams.”
An example of this is how Sauber will team up with Audi to enter F1 in 2026.
“Audi shows the right path to reach Formula 1. It is clear that Cadillac is a big player and qualifies this project as a potentially good project,” said Sauber team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi on Friday. join an existing team and I think the process implemented by Formula 1 is clear. Very robust design. So I think they know what the (right) way could be.
Horner refuted any notion that there was an agenda against Andretti and also praised how F1’s American owner Liberty Media has grown the series and made the teams stronger.
“This has nothing to do with the fact that Andretti is American. It’s all purely due to the business model that is Formula 1,” he said. “Liberty is to be congratulated on this, because they have created a model where even the worst team in Formula 1 probably has a billion-dollar valuation.”
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