Formula 1 finds itself in a catch-22 situation. On the one hand, it wants to enjoy the influx of money it has received since the sport finally found favor with Americans. The sport is now so prominent in the USA that the country hosts more Grands Prix than anywhere else. But it’s also on the verge of alienating that very audience by giving Andretti-Cadillac a hard pass.
Obviously, Andretti-Cadillac wants to get in on the game for the same reason as everyone else. Caddy wants to promote its performance and electric vehicles. Saying that the Cadillac Lyriq uses the same battery technology as an F1 car is a marketer’s dream.
And while Haas is technically an American team, it only has a logistics office in the USA. The entire operations team is located in the UK, along with most other F1 teams. Most teams are UK-based. The only outliers are Ferrari and Alphatauri (Italy) and Alpine, which is in France. The sport needs a real American team, with an F1 car built in Indiana by people called Bob, Jack, Andrew, David, Olivia, and a Karen or two to keep everyone in line.