Why Andretti’s hopes of F1 team buy-out have now all but vanished

When Andretti Global’s hopes of fielding a Formula 1 team were dashed by Formula One Management, the US-based team had one of two options: Wait to apply for team status again with the FIA, or buy out an existing team. That latter choice, though, has become less and less likely.

That largely comes down to the fact that the teams Andretti could have attempted to buy have all begun to secure their long-term futures, leaving the American team with no options left.

Haas secures a Ferrari-powered future

The future existence of the Haas Formula 1 team was one of the biggest question marks lingering as the F1 2024 season got underway. Team owner Gene Haas had just shuttered his NASCAR program, Stewart-Haas Racing. Both of its F1 drivers were in contract years. Would Haas sell his team to a fellow American outfit?

Two key moves by the Haas F1 team suggest that that isn’t going to happen.

First came the news that Haas will sign Oliver Bearman to its team for 2025; in the press release announcing the news, Gene Haas stated, “Oliver’s signing shows we continue to invest in talent — both on and off-track — as we continue to compete at the highest level.”

A statement like that doesn’t categorically rule out a potential buy-out, of course, but it does imply that Haas is looking at investing in its future — at least as far as future talent is concerned. After all, Gene Haas wouldn’t state that he is “personally excited to see how [Bearman] grows as a driver” if he wasn’t planning on sticking around.

Further, Haas has announced that it will continue its partnership with Ferrari, its current power unit provider, until 2028. Additional rumors have placed Toyota into the Haas fold, with the Japanese automaker perhaps providing components to the American team in the future.

These aren’t signs of an organization looking to dispose of its assets or offer a buy-in to an unknown entity.

More on the future of Formula 1:

👉 F1 2025 driver line-up: Who is already confirmed for the 2025 grid?

👉 F1 2026: Confirmed teams and power unit suppliers for F1’s huge regulation changes

VCARB is also happy with where it’s going

Another team linked to a potential buy-out was VCARB, Red Bull Racing’s junior team that currently fields Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo. But in an exclusive conversation with PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher, Peter Bayer stated the team has undergone a massive transformation and their valuation has only gone up as a result.

“F1 has gone through this transition, which is tremendous,” Bayer said.

“What happened is also that these teams are representing equity value, something that never was the case. Teams have been sold for $1, teams have been sold for $150 million, but then you have seen last year’s evaluations when Alpine brought investors in, where they basically said, ‘Well, we think the team is worth 900 million or a billion’.

“That’s real value. I think, if you were to go to market procedures, our team would be way north of a billion. What does it mean with everything – growth rate, United States still growing, Visa joining the journey, a Hollywood movie coming out next year, and new regulations coming out? For these teams, the trajectory is very clear… if it’s a billion today, it will be two in two years. Why would you sell that? At the same time, there’s the passion, and the opportunity for young drivers, so it’s all there.”

If VCARB is worth $1 billion — or even anything close to it — then it would be a huge stretch for Andretti Global to buy its assets.

Where does Andretti Global stand now?

At the moment, Andretti Global’s pursuit of a Formula 1 entry seems to be at a stalemate.

Bad blood between the Andretti organization and its counterparts in the international motorsport scene have left Greg Maffei allegedly telling Mario Andretti that “I will do everything in my power to see that [Michael] Andretti never enters Formula 1.”

With seemingly no options available to legitimately enter the sport and no team up for sale, it’s difficult to imagine Andretti Global finding a home in F1 at any point in the near future.

Something drastic would need to change — either in F1 or within Andretti’s organizational structure — to see the team debuting on the global F1 stage any time soon.

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