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The US House Judiciary Committee Chairman has written a letter demanding answers from Formula 1 regarding Andretti ‘s rejected application.
Mario Andretti (left) with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali (right) (Image Credit: @MarioAndretti on X)Republican Party politician Jim Jordan, who represents Ohio’s fourth congressional district, has written a letter to the Formula One Group and Liberty Media to ask for clarification relating to the decision-making process that resulted in Andretti’s application being rejected.
Andretti Global, who recently opened a brand-new facility at the Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom, are continuing development of their F1 car for a 2028 entry into the sport despite their failed application in January 2024.
The American outfit have ramped up their efforts to force F1 to reconsider their earlier decision in recent weeks. They managed to get 12 congressmen to sign a letter to key figures in F1 demanding answers, and owner Mario Andretti spoke at a press conference outside the US Capitol asking for further clarification from the governing bodies and reiterating: “We’ve done everything that’s been asked of us.”
Jordan’s letter was published by the NBC, and sent to Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
In the letter, Jordan accuses F1 of being ‘anti-competitive’. He wrote: “The Committee on the Judiciary is responsible for examining the sufficiency of federal competition laws to protect against monopolies and other unfair restraints on trade.
“When a sports league deviates from its rules and practices in a manner that reduces competition and depresses consumer interest in the product, the collusion may amount to anti-competitive conduct”, continued the Republican.
Reasons for rejection ‘arbitrary’
Jordan also argued that the reasons behind Andretti’s bid rejection were unfair and failed to make much sense. He added: “The excuses put forward for denying Andretti Cadillac’s entry appear to be pretextual, arbitrary, and unrelated to Andretti Cadillac’s suitability to compete in Formula 1.
“For example, Formula 1 alleged that a new team could only add value to Formula 1 by ‘competing for podiums and race wins.’ However, the FIA had already analysed—and approved of—the technical capabilities of Andretti Cadillac to compete among current teams, and most current teams in Formula 1 do not meet Formula 1’s standard of regularly competing for ‘podiums and race wins’.
“Formula 1 cannot have it both ways. The truth, as FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem explained, is that the rejection of Andretti Cadillac is ‘all about money.’”
Furthermore, the Chairman goes on to claim that the fact that an 11th team would lower the prize money available to each team and thus hurt the financial stability of existing teams was an argument against the acceptance of Andretti was also anti-competitive. Jordan stated: “Weak teams want to be protected from competition to the detriment of consumers and an additional team would compete for prize money and sponsorships.
“If Formula 1 must hinder competition and harm consumers to protect failing competitors, then the entire Formula 1 model may be broken and the entity cannot hide behind the necessity of a sports league to pursue anti-competitive conduct.”
In the letter, Jordan requests for all information and documents relating to the vetting process for Andretti’s F1 bid, and also asks the governing bodies for a briefing no later than May 21st.
F1 heads to Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday May 19th.
Feature Image Credit: @Ben_Sulayem on X