Andretti Global ‘ready to go’, Indy base planned

IndyCar legend Mario Andretti says that his son, Michael, plans to have his Formula 1 team based in Indianapolis should his plan to enter the sport in 2024 be approved by the FIA.

Mario Andretti, the 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner and 1978 Formula 1 World Champion revealed on Twitter last week that Michael Andretti, who owns Andretti Autosport in the IndyCar Series has applied to enter Formula 1 in 2024.

“Michael has been working on this for quite a long time, but he’s taken a different direction since there’s no teams available to buy,” Mario is quoted as telling the IndyStar.

“They’re far enough along that, if they get the approval to be added to the 10 teams that exist in F1, they’re ready to go the next day and put everything in place. This didn’t just happen.”

Michael has applied to the FIA to field a new F1 team starting in 2024. His entry, Andretti Global, has the resources and checks every box. He is awaiting the FIA's determination.

— Mario Andretti (@MarioAndretti) February 18, 2022

Andretti confirmed that the plan is that the Formula 1 team would be based in Indianapolis where the IndyCar team is, but the F1 operation would be completely separate.

He added: “They’ve been working hard to secure personnel. Some individuals are standing by that have been part of start-ups (in the past), and the (Indianapolis) building would be separate (from the IndyCar headquarters), but everything would ultimately all be under one big roof – together, but separate.”

It is believed that if the Formula 1 project takes off, Colton Herta is in the driving seat for one of the two spots in the Andretti Formula 1 team.

The most recent Concorde Agreement, that was signed by the Formula 1 teams in 2020, says that any new team which enters