Michael Andretti-Cadillac tie-up for 11th F1 team is 'a bit of a masterstroke', feels former Ferrari team manager

Peter Windsor, a former Williams Racing and Scuderia Ferrari team manager, has praised Andretti Autosport for making their latest proposal to launch a new F1 team almost impossible to turn down.

The organization, owned by Michael Andretti, a former McLaren F1 driver and son of 1978 Formula One world champion Mario Andretti, strengthened its bid to enter Formula 1 by announcing a partnership with General Motors through the Cadillac brand on January 5.

Despite that, it was widely reported that the majority of the teams were against any expansion as it would lead to a dilution of revenues. Speaking via his Twitch stream, Windsor praised Michael for his latest proposal.

“Michael’s approach is, ‘OK, if I just try to come into Formula 1 as Michael Andretti, I see what’s going to happen now.’ All the existing teams are going to say, ‘Welcome Michael, but no you can’t have a slice of the cake. If you want to come in, you’ve got to buy one of us.’

"And Michael’s saying, ‘I’m not going to waste money buying you guys, I want to do my completely new team and I want to do it my way and it needs to be an Andretti Global team.’ And they’re saying, ‘Well, it’s not going to happen.’”

He added:

“But now, with the potential tie-up with General Motors/Cadillac as the power unit badger/supplier, it’s not so much of a problem to have to convince the teams to let him create a new team because I think Liberty will be really keen to make it happen.”

Addressing Andretti's partnership with General Motors a “masterstroke”, the 70-year-old stated:

“I think that’s a bit of a masterstroke by Michael Andretti because he’s using the General Motors/Cadillac link to say to Formula 1 in effect, ‘So you guys don’t want an American engine company in Formula 1, the size of General Motors? You don’t want that?’ That’s quite a big thing.

"And then it’s of course up to Liberty to say to the existing teams, ‘sorry guys, this is going to happen and this will benefit all of you.’”

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Mario Andretti expecting clarity from FIA on 11th F1 team bid 'within a couple of months'

Mario Andretti, the 1978 F1 world champion and Indianapolis 500 winner, expects to know the status of Andretti Motorsports' efforts to join F1 "within a few months".

He said:

“The truth is that we are structuring the team day by day, as if the green light is already there. A programme like this is very complex, so we have to keep moving forward, even if not at top speed, but to put key names under contract we need certainties, so from that point of view we are still on hold. Let’s say we could reasonably have an answer within a couple of months.”