Michael Andretti quizzed on F1 role after bombshell Andretti Global restructuring

Late last week, Sportico reported on a bombshell: Michael Andretti would be stepping back from active management of Andretti Global, the motorsport organization he has run since 2002.

Now, Andretti himself has stepped in to address rumors about what it all means, as reported by the Associated Press .

Michael Andretti: “The timing was right… to take a different role with the team.”

After the Sportico bombshell, Associated Press journalist Jenna Fryer reached out to both Michael Andretti and to Andretti Global co-owner Dan Towriss to understand exactly what was happening with the team.

According to the AP, Andretti’s decision to step back from the active running of Andretti Global has more to do with his personal life than anything else.

“We’ve been working on this for a few months now. For me where I am in my life and what I want to do, the timing was right for me to take a little different role with the team,” Andretti told AP.

“A role where I don’t have to be on it every day and I can still stay involved because I’ll be involved as an advisor as well as an ambassador.

“We were able to come to a deal between myself and Dan [Towriss] and I think we are both happy with what we came up with.”

Andretti is turning 62 years old, and he’s helping raise his twin 10-year-old sons. His elder son Marco Andretti also welcomed a daughter into the world this month, making Michael a grandfather for the first time.

Andretti clarified to the AP that his future role with the team remains undefined at this moment, though he’s looking more toward ambassadorial duties as opposed to actively being in charge of the team.

Further, the Andretti Global name will remain intact.

Speaking to the AP, Towriss added, “We didn’t say that he doesn’t own our team. There’s all kinds of speculation.

“We certainly have restructured the ownership. Michael still has a financial interest. This got leaked in a way that put us on our back foot in terms of responding to things.

“People are going to always look to try to fill a vacuum with stories that sound great and are super interesting. This one is not super interesting. Michael said this was a time to take on a different role from the daily grind.”

Understanding Andretti Global:

👉 Michael Andretti relinquishes ownership stake in Andretti Global – report

👉 Zak Brown joined the Andretti Acquisition Corp II board: Here’s what that means

Rumors abounded in the aftermath of Sportico’s bombshell, including the assertion that Andretti was stepping back from team ownership as a direct result of Penske Entertainment’s running of IndyCar.

“I would not give Roger [Penske] that much credit,” Andretti told the AP after a year of calls for Penske to sell the series to someone more willing to market the series properly.

But perhaps most fascinatingly is the fact that both Andretti and Towriss were silent on what this means for Formula 1.

According to the AP, neither Towriss nor Andretti would speak at all on Formula 1, even refusing to confirm if Andretti Global is still interested in pursuing ownership of a team.

While the FIA opened applications for prospective F1 teams to join the field as an 11th entry, there has been fierce backlash from Formula One Management and from many of the existing teams on the grid.

As the AP notes, some of that backlash seems to stem from a personal dislike of the Andretti family, and of Michael Andretti in particular. Whether or not a new face helming the team operations will help remains to be seen.

Read next: Andretti Global and Group 1001: How a racing sponsorship became team co-ownership