Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll believes Formula 1 should stick with its current 10-team lineup and decline Andretti’s prospective entry.
Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA, announced on Monday that the Andretti Cadillac application had met all of its criteria and have been given the green light to progress to the next stage.
That next stage involved commercial discussions with Formula 1 and its commercial rights holder Liberty Media.
Formula 1, along with the majority of the existing teams, have been lukewarm to the prospect of expanding the grid, referencing the health of the current teams, along with the financial impact an 11th team would have.
Stroll bought the struggling Force India squad in mid-2018, after it entered administration, and rebranded it as Aston Martin for 2021.
“I think F1 at the moment, the business is on fire, the sport has never been in a better place,” Stroll told Sky Sports. “I believe if it ain’t broke you don’t need to fix it, so I’m a strong believer that it’s working really well with 10 teams right now and believe that’s the way it should stay.”
Stroll emphasized that “the sport and the business is on fire” and that its growth is particularly prominent in the United States.
“As you know we now have three races in the States—we’re in our second year in Miami, we’re going to Las Vegas in November, so I see tremendous growth possibilities going forward,” he said.
Formula 1 has not had a new team since Haas joined the grid in 2016.
The championship issued only a short statement in the aftermath of the FIA’s approval of Andretti, saying: “We note the FIA’s conclusions in relation to the first and second phases of their process and will now conduct our own assessment of the merits of the remaining application.”
Two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso is doing his best to stay out of the discussion.
“Yeah a great team,” Alonso said in Qatar on Thursday. “I know Michael, and it would obviously be a great name to add to Formula 1, but there are other people in charge of this kind of decision. First the FIA, and then FOM (Formula One Management) and the teams as well. For me, I don’t know exactly what to say, whatever is the final decision is going to be OK.
“I like Michael, I like the organization, but I also understand other things and I will support as well whatever Aston Martin’s position is and I will be OK with anything.”
Want more competition?
“In Formula 1 there is not that much of a battle between teams. Even if we are 50 on track, we will only fight against one or two drivers because they have more or less the same package as you have. There have been some discussions in the past as well about even having three cars per team and things like that.
“In the end you never know what is the best solution. We have very good people deciding these kinds of things, we trust completely the FIA and FOM, so we are in good hands.”
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