F1 Faces Justice Department Investigation Over Andretti-Cadillac

Earlier this year, InsideHook spoke with Jonathan Clegg, co-author of the book The Formula, an inside look at the history and present of Formula 1. Clegg mentioned the possibility of the F1 field expanding. “You see manufacturers who left the sport 10 or 15 years ago clamoring to get back in — Porsche and Audi and Cadillac with the Andrettis trying to get back in,” he said. “Are they going to expand the field to let those teams in or will some teams drop out to make way for those established manufacturers?”

Now, one of the hopefuls Clegg mentioned is back in the spotlight. In January, Formula 1 rejected Andretti Global’s attempt to join the circuit in the next year or two. Now, the federal government is investigating whether or not that represents a violation of antitrust laws, according to a report from the Associated Press’s Michelle Chapman.

In May, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, led by Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee, urged the Justice Department to investigate. “[W]e are concerned that [Formula 1] is acting at the behest of its independent teams and other ‘key stakeholders,’ including foreign automakers, to exclude Andretti Formula Racing, LLC’s partnership with General Motors (GM) (‘Team Andretti-Cadillac’) from entering the [Formula 1] Championship series,” the senators wrote.

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Liberty Media confirmed its cooperation in the investigation, according to the Associated Press. When Formula 1 initially refused Andretti Global’s request, their language was blunt: “Our assessment process has established that the presence of an 11th team would not, on its own, provide value to the Championship.” As ESPN reported at the time, Formula 1 did suggest that Andretti Global might have better luck applying to join for the 2028 season.