Senators call for investigation of F1’s rejection of Andretti Global

Six U.S. senators have called for the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Formula One Management’s decision to reject Andretti’s bid to join the grid in 2025 or 2026.

According to a copy of the letter obtained by The Athletic, the bipartisan group of senators suggested, “it is possible that such a refusal to deal — especially if orchestrated through a group boycott could violate U.S. antitrust laws.”

The 10 teams do not have a say but have repeatedly voiced their concerns about the potential consequences of expanding the grid.

This letter was sent to Lina Khan, the chair of the FTC, and Jonathan Kanter, the assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s antitrust division. Among the influential senators who signed the letter is Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the chair of the Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust. The letter comes after the House Judiciary Committee launched an investigation into the same topic.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who is the chairman of the committee, wrote a letter to Liberty Media president and CEO Greg Maffei and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali on May 7, asking for various documents and communications as well as “a staff-level briefing” on FOM’s decision to deny Andretti’s bid.

An F1 spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.

At the core of this ongoing situation is whether FOM engaged in anti-competitive behavior. As noted in the senators’ letter, the FIA’s purview focuses on technical and sporting merits, and the governing body approved Andretti’s bid last fall. The decision, then, fell with FOM, the commercial rights holder.

They rejected the bid for a variety of reasons but kept the door open that the team could be involved in the future.

One question mark around this process is the concept of added value. F1 said its research showed that “F1 would bring value to the Andretti brand rather than the other way around,” and that it was “not able to identify any material expected positive effect on CRH financial results.”

The statement added: “On the basis of the application as it stands, we do not believe that the Applicant has shown that it would add value to the championship. We conclude that the Applicant’s application to participate in the championship should not be successful.”

The aspect of added value is something the senators discussed in their letter, detailing F1’s investment in growing the American fanbase. They highlighted the growth in viewership and the increase to three races.

“Even individual teams, such as Red Bull, are courting U.S. fans by hosting events in U.S. cities to ‘get up close and personal with the marvel of Formula One engineering, bringing together F1 fans.’ Clearly there is a financial incentive to adding an American team to Fl’s roster, and there is no reason Team Andretti-Cadillac should be blocked unless FOM is trying to insulate its current partners from competition.”

FTC or DOJ involvement would drastically escalate the ongoing situation as both entities can enforce antitrust law.

The senators concluded their letter by sharing that they “have serious concerns that the rejection of Team Andretti-Cadillac was based on a desire to exclude a rival from the racetrack, marketing opportunities, and prestige that competing in F1 can lend to a car manufacturer competing to sell cars across the globe.”

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(Photo: Gary Mook / IndyStar / USA Today)