"Who’s going to pay for it?" - Red Bull boss opens up on why he doesn't support Andretti's 11th F1 team bid

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has opened up on the supposed opposition to Andretti's bid to enter a new team on the F1 grid and admitted that it all comes down to the finances of the team.

In conversation with RACER, Horner spoke about how there wasn't any opposition to having Andretti's team on the F1 grid on the racing front. The opposition does, however, kick in when it came down to finances.

When an 11th team joins, the dilution of value is something that the teams are unwilling to accept and that is what teams have been opposed to. The Red Bull boss said:

“Look, Andretti is a great brand, a great team. Mario, what he did in Formula 1 — as an American as well — is fantastic. Obviously, GM with Cadillac as well would be two phenomenal brands to have in the sport, and I don’t think there can be any dispute about that."

He continued:

“As with all these things, though, it ultimately boils down to, ‘Well, who’s going to pay for it?’ And you can assume that the teams, if they’re perceived to be the ones who are paying for it – or diluting their payments to accommodate it — of course, it’s not going to sit that well."

When questioned about the two teams that have come out in support of Andretti, the Red Bull boss mentioned how a power unit partnership with Alpine and a partnership outside F1 in the US for McLaren is a factor behind this. He said:

“The two teams that are supporting it (McLaren and Alpine) either have a partnership in the U.S. with them, or are going to supply them an engine. The other eight are saying, ‘Well hang on, why should we dilute our element of the prize fund?’”

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I hope a solution can be found: Red Bull boss

Christian Horner was optimistic that a solution could be reached as he hinted that the best way to go about it would be adapting the Audi model to enter F1.

Audi joined the sport without any opposition as they bought a team already on the grid. The Red Bull boss said:

"On the other side you’ve got the Liberty guys saying, ‘Well we’re not going to pay for it, we’re happy with 10 healthy, competitive franchises from an operational perspective — garages, logistics, motorhomes — it’s all more to accommodate.’ I’m sure they would prefer the Audi model, where they come in and acquire an existing franchise."

He added:

“If you introduce another one or two teams, you dilute the value of the current 10 franchises, which of course teams — particularly down towards the bottom end of the grid — have got a very inflated inherent value at the moment. I hope a solution can be found."

"What would be cleaner would be if they were able to take on one of the existing teams or franchises, but they are certainly both great brands that would be very, very welcome in Formula 1.”

It will be interesting to see how things unravel because the Andretti question will be a feature all season.