LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Mario Andretti said Friday he was deeply offended by the language Formula One Management used in denying his family and General Motors the opportunity to join the global motorsports series.
The 1978 Formula 1 world champion posted on social media he was “devastated” when F1 rejected Andretti and General Motors in late January in their application to expand the current grid to accommodate a two-car American team.
The F1 rejection came after a six-month review of Andretti's application and the reasoning for the denial was taken personally by both Mario and Michael Andretti, as well as GM, which plans to partner with Andretti in F1 under its Cadillac brand.
Among F1's claims were that it did not believe Andretti would be a competitive team; that the Andretti name does not bring the value to the series that Michael Andretti believes it would; and that getting on the grid in the next two years would be a challenge Andretti has never faced before.
“I was offended, actually. I don’t think we deserved that, to be honest with you,” Mario Andretti said Friday at the Long Beach Grand Prix. “It’s a big investment in the series, and you’d think they’d welcome that. Even the value of the series is more valuable with 11 teams than 10, so I don’t know. Tell us what is really wrong.”
As for F1 questioning GM's ability to provide an engine for the new team, only to also ask GM to find a team other than Andretti to partner with, Andretti took further exception.
“That’s another offensive statement there. We’re the ones that worked it out, and GM said it over and over, ‘Andretti or nothing,’ and then (F1) still tried to take it,” Andretti said. “There’s an undercurrent there that I don’t understand, quite honestly, but if they want blood, well, I’m ready.”
Andretti then pointed to his forearm and pretended to slice a vein to show his commitment to the F1 effort.
Andretti Cadillac last week opened a new facility for its F1 operation in Silverstone, England. The 48,000-square foot shop is operating and the team and GM maintain that “work continues at pace” on its attempt to enter F1. After the facility opening, the Andretti leadership group had one of its first official meetings with FOM — an email request late last year from F1's governing body to meet with Andretti went to an Andretti spam folder — and Andretti said the groups agreed to meet again next month at the Miami Grand Prix.
“We only had one meeting with them. That’s a problem. We haven’t had enough. I think that’s why I really welcome our next meeting. You know, let’s sit down,” Andretti said. "There were some opportunities missed along the way, but we’ve got to look forward, not back. I’m remaining hopeful because we never stop working towards this. It was made clear that our work is at pace, and as you can see we’re not just talking. We’re putting brick and mortar together. We’ve shown that with the team that already has a place in Silverstone.
“We’re trying to say ‘We’ll do whatever you ask of us. We’ll do whatever is there. Now, if you think of something, you tell us,'” Andretti continued. “But they haven’t told us yet except for some excuses like, ‘Oh we don’t want you coming on, we don’t want you to be embarrassed.’ But we don’t want to embarrass ourselves, and the fact is General Motors has made it so clear that they're excited about this project. They have a long-term commitment there, and I don’t know what else we can do.
“The rules say that 11 or 12 teams is legal,” said Andretti, who added the team is committed to fielding entries in F2 and F3 to facilitate some American talents. “We’re all-in, and I don’t know what else to do.”
Andretti, who won 12 F1 races and one championship, is considered one of the greatest drivers of all time and said he's treated with respect at F1 events. He doesn't understand why the same courtesy is not extended to his son, Michael, who ran 13 races in one ill-fated, shortened 1993 season. Michael Andretti's mark was made in American open-wheel racing, and like his father, he's considered among the greatest.
“I still don’t know what the reasons are because let’s be reasonable. We’re all racers. We all are professionals. We’re trying to advance the cause for all of us,” Andretti said. “I’ve never been disrespected as a person face-to-face, but it’s been at a distance, and I don’t think we deserve that.”
Andretti said the team goal is to be on the F1 grid in 2026 and when they told that to FOM, series representatives said they had been under the assumption the team wanted to be on the grid in 2025. Andretti said 2026 remains the goal even though this process began in 2021 with Andretti's failed attempt to purchase Sauber.
He also said that F1's refusal to admit Andretti is “definitely about the financial side, no question about it,” in that the existing 10 teams don't want to share any of the revenue with a newcomer.
AP IndyCar: https://apnews.com/hub/indycar
FILE - 1969 Indy 500 champion Mario Andretti watches from his grandson Marco Andretti's pit area during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, May 19, 2023. Mario said Friday, April 19, 2024, he was "offended" by the reasons given by Formula One for denying his family the chance to join the global motorsports series. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
LONDON (AP) — Britain's governing Conservative Party is suffering heavy losses as an array of election results pour in Friday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a U.K. general election in which the main opposition Labour Party appears increasingly likely to return to power after 14 years.
Labour won control of councils in England it hasn't held for decades and was successful in a special by-election for Parliament that, if repeated in a general election in coming months, would lead to one of the Conservatives′ biggest-ever defeats.
The only negative so far for Labour has been in some areas with large Muslim populations, such as Oldham in northwest England, where the party's candidates appear to have suffered as a result of leader Keir Starmer 's strongly pro-Israel stance in the conflict in Gaza.
Perhaps most important in the context of the looming general election, which has to take place by January but could come as soon as next month, Labour easily won back Blackpool South in the northwest of England that went Conservative in the last general election in 2019, when then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a big victory. In the contest, triggered by the resignation of a Conservative lawmaker following a lobbying scandal, Labour’s Chris Webb secured 10,825 votes, to his second-placed Conservative opponent's 3,218.
Labour leader Starmer went to Blackpool to congratulate Webb on his success and urged Sunak to call a general election.
“This was directly to Rishi Sunak to say we are fed up with your decline, your chaos and your division and we want change," he said.
Thursday’s elections in large parts of England were important in themselves, with voters deciding who will run many aspects of their daily lives, such as garbage collection, road maintenance and local crime prevention, in the coming years. But with a general election looming, they will be viewed through a national prism.
John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, said the results so far indicate that the Conservatives are losing around half of the seats they are trying to defend.
“We are probably looking at certainly one of the worst, if not the worst, Conservative performances in local government elections for the last 40 years,” he told BBC radio.
The results so far provide more evidence that Labour is likely to form the next government — and by quite a margin — and that Starmer will become prime minister.
As of Friday morning, with barely a quarter of the 2,661 seats up for grabs counted, the Conservatives were down 122 while Labour was up 52. Other parties, such as the centrist Liberal Democrats and the Green Party are also making gains. Reform U.K., which is trying to usurp the Conservatives from the right, can also point to a successful set of election results, even thought it contested a minority of council seats. The party's threat to the Conservatives was evident in Blackpool South, where it was less than 200 votes from second place.
Labour has won in areas that voted heavily for Britain's departure from the European Union and where it was previously crushed by Johnson, such as Hartlepool in the northeast of England, and Thurrock in southeast England. It also seized control of Rushmoor, a leafy and military-heavy council in the south of England where it has never won.
The results will roll in through Saturday. Sunak hopes that he can point to successes, notably in several key mayoral races, to douse talk that the Conservative Party will change its leader again before the U.K.'s main election.
Key to his survival could be the results of mayoral elections in Tees Valley in the northeast of England and in the West Midlands. The former is due Friday midday and the latter on Saturday. Should Conservative mayors Ben Houchen and Andy Street hold on, Sunak may win some respite from restive lawmakers in his party. Should both lose, he may face trouble. Labour's Sadiq Khan is expected to remain mayor of London when results are announced on Saturday..
Sunak could preempt any challenge by threatening to call a general election that has to take place before January 2025. He has the power to decide on the date and has indicated that it will be in the second half of 2024.
Sunak became prime minister in October 2022 after the short-lived tenure of his predecessor, Liz Truss, who left office after 49 days following a budget of unfunded tax cuts that roiled financial markets and sent borrowing costs for homeowners surging.
Her chaotic — and traumatic — leadership compounded the Conservatives' difficulties following the circus surrounding her predecessor Johnson, who was forced to quit after being adjudged to have lied to Parliament over lockdown breaches at his offices in Downing Street.
Nothing Sunak has tried to do appears to have shifted the political dial, with Labour consistently 20 percentage points ahead in opinion polls, which would lead, if translated into a general election, to a landslide victory on a par with that achieved by Tony Blair in 1997.
Whether anyone else can do better is a question that may occupy the minds of nervous Conservative lawmakers in Parliament heading into the weekend.
Newly elected British Labour MP Chris Webb, right, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer celebrating at Blackpool Cricket Club, England, Friday May 3, 2024 after being declared winner in the Blackpool South by-election. The by-election was triggered after the resignation of Scott Benton. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Labour candidate Chris Webb celebrates after winning the Blackpool South by-election following the count at Blackpool Sports Centre in Blackpool, Britain, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Labour candidate Chris Webb celebrates after winning the Blackpool South by-election following the count at Blackpool Sports Centre in Blackpool, Britain, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
FILE - A woman leaves a polling station after voting in London, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Britain's governing Conservative Party is suffering heavy losses as local election results pour in Friday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a U.K. general election in which the main opposition Labour Party appears increasingly likely to return to power after 14 years. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
Counting begins at the Blackpool South by-election at Blackpool Sports Centre in Blackpool, England, Thursday, May 2, 2024. The by-election was triggered after the resignation of Scott Benton. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
FILE - A woman pushes a buggy as she arrives to vote at a polling station in London, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Britain's governing Conservative Party is suffering heavy losses as local election results pour in Friday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a U.K. general election in which the main opposition Labour Party appears increasingly likely to return to power after 14 years. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
