An Introduction; Andretti Joining F1?
Hello and welcome to my first post (is this what we’re calling this?) on Through the Midfield. My name is Sam and I’m a big F1 fan. To find out more about me, check out my About Me section here. I just want to say that I started Through the Midfield to share my love for F1 with whoever might stumble across is. My one niche is that DON’T GATEKEEP F1 FROM NEW FANS! I was lucky in having great people to introduce me to F1 and help out with me learning it. We want to grow this awesome sport and share it with as many people as possible so be as helpful as you can. I will be posting at least weekly posts on here about anything F1, whether it be a race review, or my thoughts on something in F1 or silly rankings to help us all get through the winter break; which this is what I’ll get to in a moment. I also have a number of other things on here, whether that be preseason predictions, or PowerPoints that I made about F1 to help pass the time. Feel free to check those out and leave critiques. My first post will be about the possibility of Mario Andretti bringing the Andretti name back into F1, but this time as a team and not driver.
Talks of Andretti bringing his storied racing name to the forefront of an F1 team has been going on now for what seems like a lifetime. Rumors about team take overs have ranged from Alpha Tauri (soon to be Racing Bulls), Haas; which already has American ties and even being his own team and making it an 11 team grid. To me; none of those seem really feasible. I believe the talk of selling the Red Bull junior team is all talk because if it really was just a junior team they wouldn’t have a driver who’s had three mediocre and one slightly above mediocre seasons there along side an eight-time race winner who is 34. There is, in my mind, undoubtedly money stipulations involved and that the money Red Bull is getting back from it justifies them keeping the team around. On the flip side, Haas just isn’t worth the project to them I’m sure. They are a team that performs a balancing act to not go under every year, and in return finishes near to or dead last every season. Building that team up would be almost as much work as starting a team out from scratch. There is; however, a third team that I think makes much more sense for them to acquire and that is Alpine.
Alpine the last few years have shown flashes of greatness while also being stuck in some pretty lame and coarse situations. Look at the Oscar Piastri debacle a year-and-a-half ago. They got embarrassed by a driver who hadn’t taken part in more than an FP1 session. Laurent Rossi, who now thankfully is no longer part of the team, handled that like an absolute amateur. If Bruno Famin stays on as Team Principal, that will give the team four different leaders in three seasons. I say that because his title is interim and not a full time job. That is a “right ol’ mess” as George Russell would (probably) call it. Alpine need leadership; to clean house and start over. This is where Andretti comes in. Losing the French branding would suck, but it might be what has to be done. Both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon’s contracts are up at the end of the coming season so they would be little to no problem getting in an American driver. Plus it helps that they reportedly had an engine deal with Renault so buying, or partnering, with Renault is already a step in the right direction. Cadillac already brings in the funding and with the way the sport has grown in America, almost certainty many more sponsorships with it.
To me, this makes a lot of sense to go this route as an established team with some blemishes to clean up would be a lot easier than starting up a new team. There are however only two obvious candidates to be that American driver: Logan Sargeant and Jak Crawford. Logan being the obvious one since he already has F1 experience, the only question being his talent and if he belongs in the sport. This next season will be crucial for him if he wants a future in F1 and matching up against Alex is no small feat. Jak is a former junior for Red Bull, leaving the program at the end of last season. He is a bit of a long shot but heading into his second F2 season he has a chance to show off his speed, having gone under the radar last season with a win and five podiums. Colton Herta is a dark horse because I don’t think he has the race craft, and super license points, to keep up in the sport. He has the raw speed but his very accident prone; I see him as a Walmart Charles Leclerc if you will. Championship material but needs to patch up a couple of things before getting to the next level.
To me, it is time for Andretti to make a move. A team who struggles to find a leader is a perfect opportunity to give them one in a famed motorsport name. The move would most likely happen after 2025 heading into 2026 due to the engine regulation overhaul, but none the less they can probably start creeping up now and making changes and influences the way Audi is with Stake F1 (never not going to hate that name). If you made it this far thank you! I appreciate you reading through. Let me know your thoughts on my first writing as well as any suggestions or critiques you may have to make this page even bigger. Until next time.
