F1 Fans Hit Back At Poor Response To Andretti-Cadillac Interest - "Privateer Teams Are Dead"

Fans have their say on what they want from the potential addition of Andretti-Cadillac to the grid.

Fans have been sharing their point of view over Andretti entering the F1 grid.

Andretti Autosport announced last week that they have partnered with Cadillac of General Motors to help them in their goal of joining F1. The FIA have welcomed the partnership and it is going through the Expressions of Interest process before they decide whether the team will be able to join the grid in 2026 or not. 

The teams have been giving their opinions on the situation with the point of "diluting the pot" coming up frequently. 

Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff has said that an additional team would need to bring something to the sport for it to be worthwhile, but that an 'All-American' team with an American driver at the top of the board would be great. 

Fans have started to share their thoughts on the situation, and one fan in particular took to Reddit to share their opinion. @GansMans18 posted:

"An argument could be made that privateer teams died years ago when F1 became just too expensive. But at least it was technically possible if you had deep enough pockets. But this whole Andretti entry story over the last year puts the final nail in the coffin; privateer teams are dead in F1.

"It's just sad that there will never be another Williams, McLaren, Minardi, Benetton, Brabham, Jordan etc. The list goes on and on and on.

Read the full post in the embed below:

Andretti made it clear whilst visiting the Austin Grand Prix in 2022 that they were keen on joining the sport, however, at this point they had not partnered with Cadillac and it didn't lead to any further discussions as far as the press are aware. The team seem to be gaining FIA president Ben Sulayem's support, but F1 is still fighting against this proposal.

The Reddit user continued to express their frustration over the hoops that new teams are having to jump through in order to be considered. They added:

"First Andretti needed to be serious about their efforts (as of that was ever actually a concern), then they needed to pay the 200 million dollar fee (which turns out isn't actually enough anyway and is completely arbitrary), then they somehow needed to convince and brand new OEM into their entry to add 'value' to it. Andretti manages to bring in GM, one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world...and it still isn't enough.

Since the release of Netflix's Drive To Survive, the motorsport has been rapidly gaining popularity in the US which we can see by the addition of the Miami and Las Vegas Grand Prix. Adding another American team would only help catapult the sport further in the States. 

Another Reddit user picked up on this, writing:

"I've got no connection to the USA at all, but I'd love a proper, full on, American team. I'd love teams from, and based, all over the place!

"To an outsider, America seems to love its racing. We're pushing towards three races there now, as well as Canada and Mexico, and having a fully fledged American team - with racing heritage in its name and support from a huge manufacturer - could really push the popularity of the sport.

"It's such a shame to see the drawbridge being pulled up - if we don't believe names like Andretti Cadillac offer value to the sport of F1, why are we even bothering?"

Many fans on Reddit were of the same opinion that F1 should be making the most of the growing number of motorsport fans in America.

Nothing has been confirmed yet over whether Andretti will be successful in getting onto the F1 grid in their partnership with General Motors, and they are not the only team who have registered their interest. Asian team Panthera, are also keen to get in on the action.