“Go and buy another team,” FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem takes a full U-turn over Andretti-Cadillac’s F1 bid

Andretti-Cadillac‘s rejected bid to join the F1 grid as the 11th team from the 2026 season remains a highly talked about topic. The American constructor hasn’t backed down on their goals to join the sport.. However, in a shocking turn of events FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has spoken against the addition of the 11th team on the grid.

Andretti-Cadillac was proposing promising benefits to join the grid as the 11th team. However, the team was rejected by Formula 1 and had no hopes of being looked over again. Since then, Mohammed Ben Sulayem backed down on his words despite FIA accepting the team’s application. Ben Sulayem called out Andretti to acquire an existing team on the grid rather than build a new one.

I have no doubt FOM and Liberty would love to see other teams as long as they are OEMs, I would advise [Andretti] to go and buy another team, not to come as the 11th team.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem said, as reported by motorsport.com.

Apart from this, the 62-year-old didn’t hesitate to point out the degrading forms of some of the teams on the grid. The FIA president felt that some of the present teams on the grid needed some work to do. The ‘quality’ of the teams present was more important rather than the quantity. Hence, a total of ten strong teams was much better than 11 teams for the sake of more teams.

I feel that some teams need to be refreshed. What is better? To have 11 teams as a number or 10 and they are strong?  I still believe we should have more teams but not any teams. The right teams. It’s not about the number, it’s about the quality.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem noted.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem takes a dig at Haas by saying Formula 1 doesn’t have a ‘proper American team’

The Haas F1 racing team is the most American team present on the current grid of Formula 1. However, Mohammed Ben Sulayem noted the team’s current degrading form. Speaking on the impact of an American team on the grid after the three American races would be huge. Additionally, Ben Sulayem took a dig at Haas by saying that Formula 1 didn’t have a ‘proper’ American team on the grid currently.

Imagine the impact. We have three races in America. We have such a huge fan base. But we don’t have a proper [US] team.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem added.

However, with Ford’s entry with Red Bull by 2026 and General Motors’ potential entry with Andretti, the FIA boss was happy. Ben Sulayem highlighted that it would be a great achievement for Formula 1 to further add American involvement. Additionally, the 62-year-old noted that having the ‘right team’ on the grid was more important.

I’m so happy to have Ford in [with Red Bull] but imagine having GM and imagine having [more] American drivers. It’s about having the right team.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem concluded.

Hence, all these comments have further broken Andretti’s dream to join Formula 1 as the 11th grid. Regardless, the constructor hasn’t backed down as they recently opened their facility in Silverstone. Additionally, Andretti Cadillac reached a similar employee count to the Haas F1 team on the grid. As a result, the support and the dream behind the team stay stronger than ever.

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