New twist in Andretti saga as another huge US 11th F1 team project emerges

The Andrettis have been trying to get onto the F1 grid for years

Andretti has a new American rival in the quest to join the Formula 1 grid, with paddock veteran Otmar Szafnauer laying the foundations.

American racing outfit Andretti was given FIA approval to join the Formula 1 grid, but despite attaining that, as well as partnering with US automotive giant General Motors, it was a no from F1.

Otmar Szafnauer involved in new US F1 project

Andretti has pressed on with efforts to force its way through the F1 door regardless, including opening a new base at Silverstone and recruiting the likes of Formula 1’s chief technical officer Pat Symonds.

But it seems Andretti are not the only F1 hopefuls based in America with Szafnauer – who was most recently Alpine team principal before being dismissed during the 2023 Belgian GP weekend – involved in a rival project.

He revealed that the project he is working with has the “funding” to join the F1 grid and so he is currently putting “building blocks in place”.

Speaking during the James Allen on F1 podcast, Szafnauer said: “I’m a competitor and the one thing that I like more than anything is the competition.

“So, to come back in a role where I can’t influence how well the team is competing, I don’t think I’d be interested.

“If it was a role where I could help develop, build, attract the right people to improve a team’s competitiveness, I’d be interested.

“But you know, there’s only 10 teams. A lot of them have people in those roles already. So, I don’t know how many opportunities there are out there, but there’s also the 11th and 12th team possibility. So that might be something that would be interesting for me.

“I’ve been working with some organisations in North America that have the funding to start an 11th team.

“It’s not Andretti. Now we’re just putting some of those building blocks in place to make sure that we have everything that’s required in order to be successful to both start a team, but also get an entry. So, you know, that’s interesting too.”

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Formula 1 has experienced a major popularity boom in the United States over recent years, triggered by the success of the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive, with 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti recently expressing his optimism to PlanetF1.com that they remain on course to join the F1 grid.

Andretti has targeted 2026 as their year of arrival.

“Well, on all fronts, everything is progressing,” he told PlanetF1.com.

“We’ve finally even officially opened up a facility in Silverstone. I am beginning to feel optimistic because we’re doing a lot of diligent work. We’ll just have to come to some conclusion, hopefully soon, but everything is put in front of us and we’re putting in front of whatever is potentially required.

“We’re working feverishly towards satisfying every aspect of it. From there we just keep our fingers crossed.

“We’re working at pace in every aspect that we can to be able to advance the cause because, all along, we’d like to show how serious we are about the project and not just talk but do.

“We have a fair amount of team already together here, and we have some interesting individuals waiting for us to get the 100 per cent green light from Formula 1.

“We’re just trying to show that everything is the way it should be. General Motors is definitely behind all of this and that’s very important to bring in a manufacturer with us that has never been in F1.

“I think the fact that F1 is exposed so prominently in the United States, I think, should play favourably to have a full US team involved. I’m staying positive, absolutely.”

A new Formula 1 team is currently required to pay a $200million anti-dilution fee – to be split among existing competitors – if accepted onto the grid, though that fee is expected to increase under the new Concorde Agreement from 2026.

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