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Former Alpine F1 Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer has spoken about his involvement with US based investors to bring an 11th team to Formula One.
Otmar Szafnauer has been in the F1 paddock since 2001, when he joined BAR Honda. The American then joined Force India in 2009, which then turned into Racing Point and Aston Martin. He then moved to Alpine in 2022 and departed the Enstone based team after the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe 59-year-old stated in a recent podcast interview with James Allen that the investors are “Not Andretti”, despite the American organisation’s continuous plans to potentially join F1 in the future.
Formula One is currently undergoing a surge in Amercian viewership. The 2024 Miami Grand Prix was the most viewed F1 race in US territory with 3.07 million viewers, breaking a record held by the 2002 Monaco Grand Prix, which had 2.78 Million.
This is assisted by the United States having three F1 races in a season, one in Las Vegas, one in Texas and one in Miami. The spread of events across three of the four timezones makes the sport more accessible to a wider basis of fans.
Speaking further on the podcast interview, the American F1 veteran goes into further detail with his recent movements to get back into the paddock.
“I’ve been working with some organisations in North America that have the funding to start an 11th team.
“We’re just putting some of those building blocks in place to make sure that we have everything that’s required in order to be successful to both start a team, but also get an entry.”
America returned to the grid after 36 years with the arrival of Haas F1 Team. The Kannapolis-based constructor are undergoing their ninth season in F1 after joining in 2016. This is the longest run of any American team in the sports history.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe USA has produced eight Formula One teams. Only three of these, Penske, Eagle and Shadow have produced a race winning car.
Andretti have been knocking on the door of Formula One for a few years now, having already built a base and a wind tunnel in the UK for their potential campaign. The team have been denied an entry to the sport for 2025 or 2026, but the potential for them to join in 2028 still remains open.
For America to cement their name into the sport of F1, they must bring competition to the sport, and with now the potential of two new teams coming to F1 both being American, this could be the base needed.
Feature Image: Alpine