Mario Andretti provides clarity on when F1 and FIA will give their decision for 11th team on the grid

Former World Champion Mario Andretti is hopeful of getting Cadillac on the F1 grid by the 2025 season and is waiting for approval from the FIA and Formula 1 Management.

Andretti Autosport teamed up with General Motors earlier this year to reveal their plans to introduce a new team on the F1 grid under the name of Andretti Caddilac. While having 11 teams and 22 drivers is viewed by some as a good way to promote the sport, they have got positive responses from only a few of the current teams.

Others fear that the entry of an 11th team might affect the prize money, and to battle this, there is a decision pending to increase the overall prize. A decision is expected to be released about the same within a couple of weeks, according to FIA president Mohammad Bin Sulayem earlier.

Speaking to RacingNews365, Mario Andretti explained that there was a plan to have their team on the grid by the 2024 season. However, they are still working on the formalities and hope to potentially join F1 only in 2025.

"From our standpoint, we're just going along with the process and trying to fill in all the boxes. We've done it all and now it is in [the FIA and F1's] hands and it is just a waiting situation now, but we should know something shortly," Andretti said.

"There is not a specific timeline, but we have been told early September [to expect a decision]. Not only [is coming in in 2025] beneficial, but it is a key factor."

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Could Mario Andretti have to pay more than the current anti-dilution fee in F1?

A new team entering the Formula 1 grid is supposed to pay an anti-dilution fee of $200 million. However, as previously mentioned, teams have been in disagreement about the same.

There has been a demand to increase the fee to $600 million, and there could be a chance that Mario Andretti would have to pay the latter amount.

FIA president Mohamman Ben Sulayem had earlier remarked that a letter of intent had been sent to increase the anti-dilution fee, whose decision is yet to come. According to him, it would be around the time when F1 would go back to the United States for the US GP and the Las Vegas GP.

It seems quite apparent that if the decision is made in favour of increasing the fee, Mario Andretti will have to pay the price to bring his team on the grid. There is also speculation that UK-based Hitech Group is interested in doing the same, so the increased fee could see an expansion of $1 billion in F1.