Christian Horner advises Andretti motorsport to follow Red Bull and Mercedes’ footsteps

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stated that Andretti Motorsport should follow the model of Red Bull and Mercedes if they want to enter Formula 1.

Before Red Bull entered the sport, the team had many iterations such as Stewart GP and Jaguar. Mercedes entered the sport and inherited the Brawn GP championship-winning outfit in 2010, having inherited Honda's staff in 2008 themselves.

Many current teams on the F1 grid have opposed Andretti's entry into the sport as it would mean reduced prize money for the teams.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Horner advised:

"Red Bull Racing was Jaguar, which was Stewart Ford. You look at Mercedes, which goes all the way back through Honda to British American Racing to Tyrell. Aston Martin goes back to being a Jordan team. That has been the procedure for many years.

"There's absolutely nothing against Andretti, they're great people and Cadillac is a wonderful brand, but we need to come up with criteria for 2026 that don't diminish the value of, particularly, the smaller teams, and deals with the elephant in the room of who is actually going to pay for it?"

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"Mario Andretti is a name synonymous with Formula One" - Red Bull team principal

The Red Bull team principal mentioned that he had no issues with Andretti entering the sport as he claimed that they are a great team and it would be great to see them in Formula 1.

He revealed that the process for a new team to enter the sport required them to make a down payment. He also explained how it could complicate things for Liberty Media and other teams on the grid, adding:

"In terms of a new entrant, putting down a down payment that doesn't devalue the 10th franchise, and at the same time, Liberty and the teams accepting that inevitably compromises need to be made. There are, of course, also the practical elements of: are there enough garages at some of these new venues that we go to, to accommodate an 11th team?

"It needs to be dealt with in the right way. Andretti is a great team, Mario Andretti is a name synonymous with Formula One… Cadillac, GM, is one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world. So it would be great to see them in the sport, but it's just got to be done properly,"

It would be interesting to see if Andretti-Cadillac can enter the sport at the start of the 2026 season amidst backlash from other teams.