F1 Fans React To The Idea Of Having An 11th Team On The F1 Grid

Posted on October 3, 2023 | by Charley Williams LETS GOOOOOOO! Prepare the party poppers and whack out the banners, Andretti are now one step closer to joining the F1 grid as their bid has been approved by the FIA. An 11th team! Woooo! ????  Although, we wouldn’t get too excited, as Andretti now await approval from F1’s actual owners. Come on, guys, don’t be party poopers. Earlier this year, the FIA launched a (quite gruelling) application process for new teams to join F1 in 2025, 2026 or 2027. In that process, the FIA and F1 both have their say on the matter. The FIA have now accepted Andretti’s application – the only one accepted out of four – and the next step is getting F1’s approval. Andretti’s push to become the 11th team on the grid has received a mixed reaction, mostly from existing F1 teams and the sport itself, but what about the fans? We conducted a poll on X, formerly known as Twitter, and the final results were overwhelmingly positive. Here are some general responses to the news: F1 and the FIA have been happy to introduce various activities to keep the sport fresh – such as sprints and the alternative tyre qualifying format – to add more unpredictability to race weekends and provide fans with more opportunities to see wheel-to-wheel racing. So, why wouldn’t they or the teams want to accept a new team? Well, in 2021, F1 and the teams agreed that any new 11th team would have to pay a $200million expansion fee. This sum would be evenly split between the teams to compensate for the perceived team value dilution caused by the 11th team entering and getting some of the prize money. However, the current F1 teams feel that $200million is now too low. So now there are two options: 1. F1 reject Andretti and face a PR nightmare and backlash from fans, or 2. F1 accept Andretti and simultaneously annoy their current teams ???? Would you like to see Andretti join the F1 grid? Let us know in the comments!