"Following months of analysis by the FIA over the expressions of interest to join F1 from 2025 at the earliest, the governing body has finally announced the outcome of its efforts.
In a statement issued on Monday, it said that Andretti was the only applicant that was being put forward to the third and final stage of selection, which involves F1’s commercial rights holders.
But while the FIA is happy with the Andretti bid and believes it fulfils all the criteria it has laid down, that does not mean that the squad will definitely get a place on the grid.
Andretti now needs to reach a satisfactory commercial deal with FOM, and there has long been a known resistance to the field getting expanded beyond 10 teams.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has been consistent that any new outfit would need to bring a clear added value to the championship.
“As we always said, we need to make sure that the decision is right for the business,” he said before the summer break.
“And this is what I think is the duty of the FIA and us together, that has to be taken. So that is another decision that will be taken in the next couple of months."
A statement from Formula 1 on Monday was non-committal about the Andretti development.
“We note the FIA’s conclusions in relation to the first and second phases of their process and will now conduct our own assessment of the merits of the remaining application,” it said.
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said the process to select Andretti had been very thorough, which is why it took so long for the analysis to be completed since the process opened up in February.
And amid speculation over recent weeks that any failure by Andretti to agree commercial terms and not get an entry could trigger legal action, Ben Sulayem was careful in stating that the FIA has followed strict procedures.
Michael Andretti on the grid
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz / Motorsport Images
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