‘Overconfidence’ warning issued to F1 after Andretti rejection

Martin Brundle has warned F1 to avoid being ‘overconfident’ after rejecting Andretti’s bid to join the grid in 2025.

Earlier this year, F1 announced that they wouldn’t be accepting Andretti’s application to become the sport’s 11th team.

This came as no surprise after the F1 teams expressed their disapproval of Andretti from the start.

F1 cited the fact that Andretti wouldn’t bring enough “value” to the sport, but would consider their application if they were backed by a manufacturer, such as General Motors.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Brundle questioned F1’s decision to reject Andretti given that it was only recently that some teams’ futures were uncertain.

“I think F1 mustn't be too confident - you’ve got to think a bit longer term,” he said. “I give you just a short while ago, Force India was about to collapse - everybody losing their jobs, the team at Silverstone evaporating, going broke.

“That has turned into the incredible investment that Lawrence Stroll has made at Aston Martin. There are a number of other teams that were pretty shaky four or five years ago.

“We’re now sitting with this magnificent position we found ourselves in where all the teams are solvent and doing good business. Let’s not assume it’s always going to stay. What goes around comes around on that.

“We need to think long and hard about having some more credible teams.”

The reaction to the Andretti news has gone under the radar after it came just 24 hours before Lewis Hamilton’s bombshell move to Ferrari was announced.

Brundle admitted that he expected a stronger fightback from Andretti.

“I am very surprised we haven’t heard anything from the FIA or really from Andretti,” he added. “I would personally like to see an 11th and indeed 12th team on the grid. It’s another two team managers to speak to and another four drivers, four cars to look at.

“I think the show could do with it. Nothing to do with Andretti in that respect. I understand why a lot of the teams in F1 were like ‘no we don’t want to share the pie out anymore’, our pit lane is full with all the things that go on such as hospitality - whether it’s Brad Pitt movie or whatever.

“They think Andretti with a customer team won’t really be bringing anything to F1 - it will take more than it can give. Whether they’re regrouping quietly for antitrust or anti-competition laws in the EU, I don’t know. It all seems to have gone away very easily.”