Formula 1 fans hoping for a quick decision over whether a new team will be allowed to join the grid should expect to be disappointed.
That's because the sport's top bosses are some way off choosing which – if any – of the prospective new entrants will be allowed to join the 10 current teams. Several interested parties are expected to apply for a place after the FIA officially opened the door to an 11th team.
One of the interested parties is Andretti Autosport, a major player in the motorsport world. Michael Andretti wants to add an F1 team to the outfits he already runs in IndyCar, NASCAR, Formula E and other series, but has faced some opposition.
Critics within the paddock have declared that any new entrant needs to bring more to the sport than they would take from it. In answer to that, Andretti announced on Thursday a new link-up with American carmaker Cadillac, owned by automotive giant General Motors.
"I'm proud to have GM and Cadillac alongside us as we pursue this goal," former F1 racer Andretti said. "GM and Andretti share a legacy born out of the love of racing. We now have the opportunity to combine our motorsport passions and dedication to innovation to build a true American F1 bid."
Andretti are far from the only ones keen on joining F1. A handful of carmakers are said to be mulling over whether or not to sign up for those new engine rules which come into force in a few years' time, while privateers such as Hong Kong billionaire Calvin Lo have also voiced their interest.
The FIA seemed flattered by the interest and responded in a statement: "It is particularly pleasing to have interest from two iconic brands such as General Motors Cadillac and Andretti Global. Any additional entries would build on the positive acceptance of the FIA's 2026 PU regulations among OEMs which has already attracted an entry from Audi."
F1's official response to the Andretti news was more tepid. While it seems the sport's bosses are more open to a new team than they have been for some time, it was reiterated that "any new entrant request requires the agreement of both F1 and the FIA".
And that is not expected to come for a while. "The FIA is exploring the Expressions of Interest process and we will provide a further update in the near future," said FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem. "Any Expressions of Interest process will follow strict FIA protocol and will take several months."
