The fight to establish a Cadillac F1 team on the grid has been an arduous journey, to say the least. The luxury marque has teamed up with Andretti Global to make it happen, but both entities have been met with pushback. First, the existing teams expressed concerns, although that didn’t deter Caddy from submitting an application, which was approved by Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). However, it was rejected by Formula One Management (FOM), prompting the U.S. Congress to step in and demand answers. Now, in the absence of a response, the House Judiciary Committee has launched an investigation to find out exactly what’s going on.
According to NBC News, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, accused F1 and its owner, Liberty Media, of “anticompetitive conduct” for its rejection of the Cadillac F1 application. Jordan outlined the accusations in a letter to Greg Maffei, president and CEO of Liberty Media, along with Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of Formula One Group, on May 7th, 2024.
“Delaying Andretti Cadillac’s entry into Formula One for even one year will harm American consumers to benefit failing Formula One teams,” the letter states. “Limiting the number of teams in Formula One will increase the price of sponsoring or buying into an existing Formula One team. As the Committee examines this matter and considers potential legislation around the structure and competition of sports leagues, we write to request a staff-level briefing on the decision to deny Andretti Cadillac’s application to join Formula One.”
Jordan asks that documents and communications regarding the process for evaluating the entry of new teams into the sport be provided by May 21st. This will help the investigation as “the Committee examines this matter and considers potential legislation around the structure and competition of sports leagues.”
Cadillac V-Series.R race car at Daytona
Despite being stonewalled by FOM, Andretti Global is already preparing a Cadillac F1 race car with full intent to compete starting in 2026. In fact, the organization recently opened the doors of a brand new factory in Silverstone that will serve as a satellite facility to its planned headquarters in Indiana.
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