The president of United States House Judiciary Committee opened an investigation into the rejection of Liberty Media at the entrance of Andretti at Formula 1in an escalation of political interest in the case.
A few days after Mario Andretti Having appeared at the Capitol, the seat of the American Legislature, Republican Representative Jim Jordan wrote to the F1 owners demanding explanations about the decision-making process that blocked Andretti’s hopes.
The NBC television network published a letter it obtained from Jordan outlining a request for documents and information relating to F1’s decision to deny Andretti a place on the grid. In the letter, which was sent to Liberty CEO Greg Maffei and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, Jordan says he wants answers to ensure there was no illegal behavior.
“The Committee on the Judiciary is responsible for examining the sufficiency of federal competition laws to protect against monopolies and other unfair restrictions on trade,” he wrote. “Sports leagues such as F1 operate in an exceptional area of antitrust law where some degree of collusion is necessary to create the product.”
“However, when a league deviates from its rules and practices in a way that reduces competition and diminishes consumer interest, collusion may be considered anticompetitive conduct.”
Jordan highlighted that he did not accept some of the explanations that F1 gave for rejecting Andretti’s proposal when it announced, in January, that it had decided not to allow it to enter the grid in 2025.
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
“The excuses given to deny Andretti Cadillac entry appear to be pretextual, arbitrary and unrelated to suitability to compete in F1. For example, F1 claimed that a new team could only add value by ‘competing for podiums and race wins’ “.
“However, the FIA had already reviewed – and approved – the technical capabilities of the Andretti Cadilac to compete among current teams, and the majority of current teams in F1 do not meet the standard required by the category to compete regularly for podiums and victories in races’.
“F1 also criticized Andretti Cadillac for attempting to use an existing engine manufacturer because this could ‘damage the prestige and reputation’ of F1. At the same time, however, F1 stated that if Andretti Cadillac used a new engine manufactured by General Motors in the team’s first year, a new engine would create a challenge for the new team.”
“F1 cannot have it both ways. The truth, as FIA president Muhamed Ben Sulayem explained, is that Andretti Cadillac’s rejection is ‘all about money’.”
The Committee also considered that the arguments presented about an 11th team harming the interests of current teams perhaps suggested anti-competitive behavior.
The letter added: “Weak teams want to be protected from competition at the expense of consumers and an additional team would compete for prize money and sponsorships.”
“If F1 has to hamper competition and harm fans to protect failed competitors, then the entire F1 model may be broken and the entity cannot hide behind the need for a sports league to pursue anti-competitive conduct.”
“Delaying Andretti Cadillac’s entry into F1, even for a year, will harm American consumers to benefit failed F1 teams.”
In an attempt to help the Committee’s investigation into the matter, Jordan demanded documents and a briefing on what happened. He requested all documents and communications pertaining to or related to the process of evaluating the new teams’ and Andretti’s entries, plus anything relating to F1’s decision to reject their entry on 31 January.
Furthermore, he requested all documents and communications between F1 and the current ten teams relating to new team entries, and any communications relating to new team entry or anti-dilution fees under the Concorde Pact.
He requested a briefing as soon as possible and by May 21 at the latest.
Last week, several members of Congress wrote to F1 asking for answers about Andretti’s decision and whether or not F1’s actions had placed “unreasonable restrictions on market competition” that could violate US laws.
At a press conference in front of the US Capitol last week, Mario Andretti said: “We did everything asked of us. I represented the USA with pride in my F1 career. My proudest moments were standing on top of the podium with the American national anthem playing.”
F1 declined to comment on the matter when contacted by Motorsport.com.
