In January, grand prix racing’s commercial rights holder, Formula One Management, rejected the America squad’s bid to join the F1 grid next season, despite the championship’s regulator, the FIA, approving its technical capabilities last October.
A statement from FOM read: “Our assessment process has established that the presence of an 11th team would not, on its own, provide value to the championship. The most significant way in which a new entrant would bring value is by being competitive. We do not believe that the applicant would be a competitive participant.”
It furthermore added that it felt having an extra team on the grid would put unnecessary financial strain on current race promoters.
The Andretti Global team’s patriarch, 1978 F1 world champion Mario Andretti, visited Capitol Hill earlier this week, and met with Republican John James – who is one of the 12 bi-partisan signatories to the letter – to discuss the potential for anti-competition potential of FOM’s decision.
The role of U.S. Congress members is to represent people of their districts, as well as develop and vote on legislation. In the letter, which is addressed to Liberty boss G