Stefano Domenicali responds to question about when Andretti might join the Formula 1 grid

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F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has responded to questions about Andretti potentially joining the grid as the 11^th team in the future.

Domenicali was speaking to Sky Sports F1 (26/11 3:43pm) at the conclusion of the Formula 1 season in Abu Dhabi.

Stefano Domenicali might have some mixed feelings when he reflects on the 2023 F1 season.

On one hand, nearly every driver and team had something to play for going into the final race of the year yesterday.

It came down to the last lap as Charles Leclerc employed some interesting tactics to try and help Ferrari overtake Mercedes.

People were keeping a close eye on Yuki Tsunoda’s impressive one-stop strategy to see if he could help AlphaTauri leapfrog Williams in Franz Tost’s last race in the sport.

However, ultimately he would have wanted a bit of jeopardy at the top of the standings and Max Verstappen and Red Bull made sure that wasn’t the case a long time ago.

Another decision Domenicali could make to introduce some more jeopardy in F1 is to accept Andretti into the sport.

The American manufacturer are desperate to join Formula 1 despite some resistance from the current teams.

It’s looking like it’s going to be a long process though much to the annoyance of plenty of fans and the growing queue of young drivers looking for an opportunity to get into the sport.

Domenicali address Andretti to F1 claims

Domenicali was asked about the number of young drivers waiting to get into the sport and how Andretti might be able to alleviate that pressure.

Asked whether he thinks they’ll make it onto the grid, he said: “I would say if we’re talking about drivers that’s one thing, if we’re talking about teams that’s another thing.

“So, I would say I have nothing to hide on that. It’s a process on the commercial side that I respect and when we are ready we will give the answer.

“We don’t feel any pressure on that but we need to do the right job, that’s our duty.

“And with regard to the drivers it’s great to see that there are a lot of rookies that now the F1 teams have these academy projects.

“We have the F1 Academy that will develop female drivers and this is the beauty that we have great drivers today, they are aspirational, and we’re attracting more young talent to the sport.

“So, this is not a problem for the future.”

Andretti will be desperate to get onto the F1 grid and if they can get the approval of Domenicali that will really help.

They’ve already identified a driver they’d like to get onto the grid and their preferred power unit provider will be in F1 from 2028.

However, it’s never easy to establish a new manufacturer in Formula 1 and as the newest team Haas have attested to this season, even when you get there, success is far from guaranteed.