Andretti was refused a 2026 entry by F1 after the FIA had admitted its software on a technical foundation.
Ben Sulayem was proponent of increasing F1’s grid of 10 groups, opening up a young course of that solely Andretti handed.
“We’ve got a contract, and our contract says now we have as much as 12 groups,” he informed Motorsport.com final yr. “So, we’re not breaking the principles. We’re, quite the opposite, fulfilling the principles.”
He additionally mentioned it was his dream to refill all 12 slots by including a producer outfit from the US and from China.
That imaginative and prescient put him at odds with F1 administration and proprietor Liberty Media, who do not consider Andretti’s entry can be aggressive or add important worth to the sequence as an growth staff.
Talking to Reuters in Monaco, Ben Sulayem has now modified his stance and suggested Michael Andretti to purchase an current outfit relatively than persist in his efforts to affix as an eleventh staff.
“I’ve little question FOM and Liberty would like to see different groups so long as they’re OEMs,” he mentioned.
“I might advise [Andretti] to go and purchase one other staff, to not come because the eleventh staff.
Michael Andretti, Proprietor, Andretti World
Picture by: Alexander Trienitz
“I really feel that some groups must be refreshed. What is healthier? To have 11 groups as a quantity or 10 and they’re robust?
“I nonetheless consider we should always have extra groups however not any groups. The best groups. It’s not concerning the quantity, it’s concerning the high quality.”
Ben Sulayem mentioned he would nonetheless welcome Andretti and its accomplice Basic Motors in precept, suggesting the tie-up would deliver extra to the game than a few of F1’s present outfits.
“With out mentioning names, there are groups that are struggling. Battling efficiency, struggling even with administration,” he added.
“It’s about having the suitable staff, to not lose an opportunity or a chance the place somebody like GM with a PU is coming to Components 1.
“Think about the impression. We’ve got three races in America. We’ve got such an enormous fan base. However we don’t have a correct [US] staff. I’m so comfortable to have Ford in [with Red Bull] however think about having GM and picture having [more] American drivers.”
The change of stance over Andretti may very well be perceived as an effort to get on the identical web page with FOM and Liberty Media, on condition that Ben Sulayem has to date endured a frosty relationship with the industrial rights holder over quite a lot of conflicts.
That’s particularly related amid talks to place collectively a brand new Concorde Settlement that stipulates how the sequence shall be run on a industrial stage and desires renewing forward of 2026.
“Peace is all the time good, you may’t have on a regular basis pointless points,” Ben Sulayem acknowledged. “We each perceive that we have to go ahead and the one strategy to go ahead is to have far more readability between us.
“We’re with FOM on the subject of enterprise. We’re companions and now we have to additionally neglect the small issues and discover a answer how can we deal with these points.”
F1 has formally left the door ajar for Andretti to try to apply once more for 2028, if GM is able to ship a works energy unit.
However Andretti has not taken no for a solution and continued its aggressive push to affix for 2026, opening a UK base in Silverstone and signing former F1 technical director Pat Symonds as a guide.
It has additionally concerned a number of US senators and representatives to problem F1’s rejection on authorized grounds by invoking anti-trust legal guidelines, an escalation that hasn’t gone down effectively at F1.
