Zak Brown claims he’s ready to support Andretti-Cadillac bid if it’s “additive” to F1

Zak Brown reckoned that Andretti-Cadillac could boost the revenue share for the existing F1 teams.

Zak Brown claims he’s ready to support Andretti-Cadillac bid if it’s “additive” to F1

Michael Andretti and Zak Brown (via IMAGO)

Michael Andretti‘s dream F1 project has been met with staunch criticism from the F1 paddock. The sport and current team bosses have publicly spoken against the Andretti-Cadillac bid. However, McLaren CEO Zak Brown has backed the all-American bid albeit the 52-year-old has placed a few conditions for the same.

Brown highlighted that an eleventh F1 team brings many benefits to the table. The 52-year-old reckoned that the biggest benefit would be the increased fans and revenue of the sport. This in turn would increase the pie of revenue that is shared by all teams on the grid, including more sponsorship deals on the table.

The pros is they can help grow the pie. That pie can be fans, first and foremost; that can be television revenue; that could be increased exposure in a certain market that helps to bring in more sponsors; excitement on the racetrack.
Zak Brown said on the Track Limits podcast (H&T: PlanetF1)

However, Zak Brown made it clear that there is a risk that Andretti-Cadillac’s entry fails to increase this lucrative pie. Subsequently, teams are worried that they will lose out on revenue with another entry.

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The downside is if the pie doesn’t get larger, and then you’re just divvying up the same-sized pie, and that’s where I think the majority of the the teams are.

Nevertheless, the McLaren CEO made it clear that he’s willing to back Andretti-Cadillac as long as it adds to the sport and the overall revenue of all existing teams. The 52-year-old reckoned that he would prefer to have a smaller chunk of a much larger revenue pool than a large chunk of a smaller pool of revenue.

My view is as long as it’s additive to the sport – brings in more fans, brings in more revenue, brings in better television contracts, whatever that may be – if it makes the pie larger I’d rather have one 11th of a pie that’s 1,000 times than one tenth of one that’s 100 times.

Zak Brown reveals F1 teams are unaware of the details of Andretti Cadillac’s bid

The 52-year-old pointed out that the paddock has not been informed about the specifics of Michael Andretti’s bid. As such, all the team bosses and critics are simply expressing their own opinions without knowing the details of the proposal.

 think everyone has an opinion, but not anyone is that educated on actually what the proposition is.
Michael Andretti (image via IMAGO)
Michael Andretti (image via IMAGO)

Zak Brown pointed out that it is F1 and the FIA who will ultimately make the call on Andretti-Cadillac. The McLaren CEO hoped that the decision would bring value to the sport and increase its growth in the coming years. Michael Andretti’s proposal is currently in discussions with Formula 1 over the commercial agreement to enter the sport.

Certainly, Andretti-Cadillac is expected to bring in more revenue to the sport. The all-American bid is likely to bring in an American driver from IndyCar to Formula 1. This would attract more viewers from the United States which is a key market for the pinnacle of motorsport. However, it remains to be seen if Michael Andretti can get F1’s nod to have his team compete in F1.

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