"This will do more harm than good": F1 pundit's verdict on 12 Congressmen's letter to Liberty about Andretti's Formula One bid rejection

F1 pundit Joe Saward gave his opinion on Andretti gathering 12 members of the US Congress to sign a letter to F1's owners Liberty Media, protesting his team's rejection of the sport.

Mario Andretti has been trying to enter the top formula series with his American team for a couple of years. However, this has caused a whirlwind of debate in and out of the F1 paddock about how the 11th F1 team would affect the overall spectacle in terms of racing and financial structure.

In October 2023, the FIA accepted the Expression of Interest application from the American team and green-lit them for the next process, which was discussing their entry into F1 with the FOM (Formula One Management). The FOM rejected the bid and stated that they did not feel the team would bring value to the sport.

Fast forward to May 2, 2024, it was reported that Mario Andretti and his team gathered 12 out of 535 members of the US Congress to sign a protest letter to Liberty Media.

Joe Saward, however, feels the letter might do more harm than good. On his official X account, he explained that the F1 entrant only managed to accrue 12 members of the US Congress, which was a bit more than two percent of the entire Congress. This was why the F1 pundit doubted this move from the team.

"The US Congress has 535 members. Andretti got 12 to sign a letter to F1. That is just over two percent. It is not the whole of Congress, as some media is reporting. IMHO, this will do more harm than good," Saward wrote.

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US Congress signs and sends letter to F1's owners Liberty Media on behalf of Andretti

An official letter signed by 12 US Congressmen was recently sent to F1 owners Liberty Media to protest the American team getting rejected from the sport. They could have entered as an 11th team, further expanding the grid by two cars and diluting the prize pool a little.

The letter, which was directly addressed to Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, stated that the US Congress was concerned about FOM blocking two American companies, Andretti Global and General Motors (GM), from participating in the sport. Furthermore, they also stated that their rejection could also violate the American antitrust laws.

"We write to express our concerns with apparent anti-competitive actions that could prevent two American companies, Andretti Global and General Motors (GM), from producing and competing in Formula 1," the statement read (via NBC News).

"It is unfair and wrong to attempt to block American companies from joining Formula 1, which could also violate American antitrust laws," it added.

As of now, Liberty Media and the FOM have not yet responded to the letter from US Congress.