Formula One team Scuderia AlphaTauri is not for sale, team principal Franz Tost confirmed in a statement Wednesday, ending for now Andretti Autosport’s efforts to enter the sport.
“I had some very good meetings with [new Red Bull co-CEO] Oliver Mintzlaff, who confirmed that the shareholders will not sell Scuderia AlphaTauri, and that Red Bull will continue supporting the team in the future,” Franz said.
Rumors about AlphaTauri’s sale had been flying since the death of Dietrich Mateschitz, founder and CEO of Red Bull. Concerns abounded about the new Red Bull leadership team’s interest in financing two Formula One teams on top of its other sporting initiatives.
Andretti Autosport, a successful American motorsport firm, will rue this missed opportunity to “buy in” to Formula One rather than launching a new team from scratch. Andretti Autosport has four IndyCar championships to its name.
Andretti has been vocal about its interest in joining the Formula One series, bidding to purchase Sauber/Alfa Romeo when it was for sale and partnering with GM and Cadillac on an all-American package. But their entry plans have been stymied at every turn.
“I feel very strongly that we are suited to be a new team in Formula One and can bring value to the series and our partners, and excitement for the fans,” Andretti chairman Michael Andretti said.
On the whole, fans agree. Many are eager for more teams to join the grid, given that the sport’s governing body allows for a maximum of 13 teams and not the current 10. More teams mean more competition, more drivers and more storylines for Formula One fans to follow.
However, the existing Formula One teams disagree. They feel that adding more teams increases risk and dilutes fan and sponsor attention. Accordingly, the existing teams have blocked expansion, pushing to triple new team entry fees from the already exorbitant $200 million to a ridiculous $600 million as a measure of protection.
Fans and teams remain at opposite ends of the spectrum on the expansion issue, with Andretti caught in the middle. With AlphaTauri no longer for sale, Andretti’s last “easy” entry point to Formula One has vanished.
“It’s all about money,” Michael Andretti told Forbes earlier this year, opining on Formula One’s resistance to his team. “First, they think they are going to get diluted one-tenth of their prize money, but they also get very greedy thinking we will take all of the American sponsors as well. It’s about greed and looking at themselves and not looking at what is best for the overall growth of the series.”
