Sat, Nov 23, 2024 page7

• Chances of Formula 1 grid expansion rise

  • AP and Reuters, LAS VEGAS
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  With a restructuring at Andretti Global that pushed Michael Andretti into a smaller role, the chances of his organization landing a Formula 1 team have substantially increased.

  So much so that F1 and Formula One Management could have a decision to grant the General Motors (GM)-backed entry a spot as the 11th team on the grid in the coming weeks.

  Dan Towriss, now the majority owner of the Andretti organization, was at the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Thursday scoping his chances of entering the top motorsports series in the world.

  

  Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton drives during a practice session for the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Thursday.

  Photo: AFP

  So was the FBI, allegedly, as part of a US Department of Justice investigation into why F1 denied the Andretti organization expansion into the series.

  F1 has 10 teams that field 20 cars and only one — the organization owned by California businessman Gene Haas — is an American team.

  Las Vegas marks the third race this season in the US, more than any other country, as F1 has exploded in popularity there over the past five years.

  

  Mercedes F1 driver Lewis Hamilton sits in his car in the garages during the second practice session for the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Thursday.

  Photo: AFP

  Even so, Andretti could not get approval from F1 to enter the series.

  However, the situation changed in September, when Andretti scaled back his role with his namesake organization.

  Now with Towriss in charge, talks have amplified, even though it is not clear what the name of an Andretti-less F1 team would even be. Cadillac would do the engines — but says it would not be ready until 2028 — which means a 2026 Towriss-led F1 team would be GM branded, but with a partner engine supplier.

  

  Andretti Global Team chief executive officer and chairman Michael Andretti looks on in the paddock ahead of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix at Miami International Autodrome on May 4.

  Photo: AFP

  Most of the existing teams have been largely opposed to an 11th team entering F1, citing a dilution in prize money and the massive expenses they have already committed to the series, but Andretti, among others, believes the teams’ position was personal in that they simply did not like Andretti, who ran 13 races in the 1993 season.

  His father, Mario, is the 1978 F1 world champion.

  The Andretti application had already been approved by the FIA, which is F1’s ruling body, but later denied by F1 itself. F1 promised to revisit the issue once GM had an engine ready to compete.

  The existing 10 F1 teams have no actual vote or say in if the grid is expanded, which Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reiterated on Thursday when reporters asked why the sudden chance of acceptance in a potential 11th team.

  “We have an obligation, a statutory obligation as directors, to present the standpoint that is the best for our company and for our employees, and we’ve done that,” Wolff said. “I think if a team can add to the championship, particularly if GM decides to come in as a team owner, that is a different story.”

  “And as long as it is creative, that means we’re growing the popularity of the sport, we’re growing the revenue of the sport, then no team will be ever against it. So I’m putting my hope in there,” he added.

  On the track, Lewis Hamilton was fastest in Las Vegas Grand Prix practice, with McLaren’s Lando Norris splitting the two Mercedes and George Russell completing a British trio on top of the Formula One timesheets in the second session.

  Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who won last year’s race and can claim a fourth successive championship today, was 17th at the end of the day — two seconds off the pace, but without using the soft tire.

  Hamilton topped the first practice timesheets in 1 minute, 35.001 seconds, 0.396 seconds ahead of Russell and 0.953 quicker than Norris in cool, slippery conditions around the glitzy city streets.

  Hamilton lapped in 1 minute, 33.825 seconds in the late-night session, with Norris 0.011 seconds slower and Russell 0.190 seconds off the pace.

  The times were all set on the fastest, soft tires with all drivers struggling for grip on the fast circuit.
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