Powerful US congressman launches F1 investigation into Andretti blockade

The chairman of the US House Judiciary Committee has launched an investigation into Formula 1 and LIberty Media over how it came to the decision to block Andretti’s bid to join.

MP Jim Jordan on Tuesday addressed a letter to Liberty boss Greg Maffei and F1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali, in which he submitted documents relating to the “process of evaluating the entry of new teams” related to Andretti and even those between F1, Liberty Media and the 10 called for current teams on the topic.

Jordan has set a response deadline of May 21 at 5 p.m.

The powerful Republican’s move comes a week after 12 bipartisan congressmen wrote to F1 and Liberty seeking answers to the rejection of Andretti’s offer following commercial negotiations with F1 in January.

The offer previously passed all of the FIA’s technical and sporting tests, but was rejected at least for 2026 after Formula 1 considered that Andretti had underestimated the difficulty of the starting appearance and would also not provide sufficient added value.

NOTE: Rep. Jordan’s full letter can be read below. The articles will continue afterwards.

One reason why some of the existing 10 teams were cautious about Andretti’s proposed entry was the fact that they would potentially receive a smaller share of the overall prize pot, although Andretti claimed that it would actually increase the pot for everyone.

At the Miami Grand Prix, a few days after meeting with Rep. Jordan, among others, Mario Andretti confirmed that the team still plans to be on the starting grid for 2026.

The team also recently opened a brand new technical base at Silverstone.

Formula 1 hasn’t completely negated Andretti’s entry bid, with General Motors’ engine providing a potential lifeline. If GM and the Cadillac brand are able to produce an engine for 2028, Formula 1 indicated they would reconsider the merits of the offer.

Liberty Media will report its first quarter financial results, including for the Formula 1 Group, on Wednesday May 8th.

Liberty also faces questions from the U.S. Department of Justice via its LibertyLive and LiveNation Ticket purchasing service.

The DOJ is investigating whether “the nation’s largest concert promoter exploited its dominance in a way that undermined competition for ticket sales to live events,” the study said Wall Street Journal.

The DOJ had already found this Live Nation in 2019 violated the terms of its merger with Ticketmaster in 2010 by forcing venues to accept Ticketmaster’s ticketing services as a condition of Live Nation performances.

In November 2022, during Taylor Swift’s US performances worldwide Epochs Due to the fact that scalpers did this and resold the tickets at significantly higher prices, fans were unable to purchase tickets. Both Ticketmaster and Live Nation have been hit with multiple lawsuits.

The timing of Representative Jordan’s intervention should also not be overlooked, as GM is based in Detroit, Michigan.

Michigan is a key swing state in U.S. presidential elections, voting with the overall winner in nine of the last 11 elections since 1980, with only George W. Bush failing to win the state in either 2000 or 2004.

Rep. Jordan is a close supporter of Donald Trump, who hopes to be re-elected as the 47th president in November and defeat incumbent Joe Biden in the rematch of the 2020 campaign.