McLaren boss believes Andretti's hopes of joining F1 are 'not dead' amidst stiff resistance

McLaren team principal Zak Brown feels there has been resistance towards the entry of former world champion Mario Andretti’s son Michael's team into the sport. The 50-year-old also believes that the entry fee for a new team should be F1’s decision and should not be debated.

Speaking to the Sports Business Journal about the Andretti deal, Brown said:

“I hope it’s not dead; I don’t think it’s dead. But it certainly seems like it’s meeting a lot of resistance.”

Mario Andretti’s son Michael has applied as a new entrant to F1 with a team called Andretti Global. While the outfit has a deal with Alpine for the engines, they are yet to get approval from the sport to finalize their entry.

The team's foray into the sport was met with some resistance from existing teams who are debating the possible increase of the entry fee for a new team from the existing amount of $200 million. Brown hopes the deal goes through despite the resistance and feels the final amount should be decided by F1.

Upon being asked about the much-debated amount, the McLaren chief replied:

“I wouldn’t want to comment on what I think the right number is. But what I would say is the value of an F1 franchise from when the Concorde Agreement was signed [in 2020] to now — it’s grown rapidly. Ultimately, it’s up to F1 to decide what the right number to buy in is, but what an F1 team was worth three years ago — it’s significantly more today.”

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McLaren confirms it is not selling its F1 unit to Audi or any other manufacturer

McLaren team boss Zak Brown admitted to having conversations with Audi but confirmed that he is not selling the F1 team. The Woking-based outfit's head honcho revealed that the team has made progress commercially and is focused on their investments and long-term goals in the sport. Audi, who is set to join F1, has been rumored to be looking at buying one of the existing teams rather than entering the sport as a separate entity.

Upon being asked about their linkup to Audi, Brown clarified by saying:

“No, no. Our shareholders are very committed to McLaren. We had conversations with Audi and we are not for sale. We are very committed to our future and we are doing really well on the track. Shareholders are making substantial investments to give our team the resources we need to get back to the front, and commercially we are doing really well. Morale in the team is really good. We don’t have any interest in selling the racing team.”

Further reinstating that the team will retain ownership, Brown said:

“We are McLaren F1. That’s what we will remain, and we will remain owning the racing team. Our terms for any partnership would be we retain ownership of the racing team. And if anyone wants a conversation that is different to that, there’s no conversation to be had.”

While the speculation surrounding Audi and Porsche’s potential entry into the sport has gathered momentum, the car manufacturers are yet to officially confirm their entries. They are reported to have received the nod from Volkswagen Group, with Audi being linked to the Alfa Romeo F1 team and Porsche being linked with Red Bull.