Despite opposition from the sport's powers that be, Michael Andretti insists that he is "not giving up" on his dream of entering F1.

He was speaking at a press conference to mark the recruitment of Jamie Chadwick, who becomes the first female in 13 years to compete full-time in the Indy NXT championship.

Her signing comes at a time F1 has announced its support for F1 Academy, an all-women series which will be run by a number of the current F2 and F3 teams, with the aim of developing and preparing "young" female drivers to higher levels of competition.

Like Chadwick, Andretti has his eyes set on entering F1, but thus far with little success having encountered opposition and negativity from the likes of F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali and team bosses such as Toto Wolff.

Thwarted in his efforts to buy into Sauber, which has now been snapped up by Audi, Andretti insists that his desire to enter F1 is as strong as ever, to the extent that a new $200m (£170m) facility is being built in Indiana, with a groundbreaking ceremony set to take place next week.

"We're still moving forward," said Andretti when asked about his F1 plans.

"We're still working hard," he added. "I think we made pretty good progress in the last couple of months and we're not giving up."

Asked about the new facility, which would house all his racing operations, with a day-to-day satellite operation in Europe for F1, Andretti replied: "We're really excited about it, it's going to be awesome."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by ffracer, 06/12/2022 7:20

"Great points in this conversation. In a perfect world, Andretti deserves to be in F1... but, if I were a team, I would fight tooth and nail to oppose Andretti's entry because of the spectrum of difference in prize money. As for buying out the Haas entry, Gene Haas has stated many times that he is not interested because it makes great business sense to remain in F1.

My sadness is for the great hero, Mario Andretti, to be denied entry after what he endured for this sport. I am gnawing on my hands just hoping for a speedy end to this tragedy. Nothing could eclipse witnessing Mario being strapped into an F1 car one more time while he is still running flat out on this great earth, nothing... not the iconic Lotus 79, the Parnelli, the Penske, the Alfa, the Williams FW07 or the Ferrari 126C2 but the ultimate, an Andretti F1, for the demo shakedown run. Goosebumps like everyone else, just thinking about it, because this legend CAN STILL DRIVE and drive F1 into sheer madness!

Wow, I just listened to his recanting of the summer of '82 and relived that incredible time: getting the call from Enzo Ferrari, with 'The Old Man' wanting him to come home, help the team and drive in F1 again (final 2 races) in the fire-spitting Ferrari 126C2 no less, reminiscing about getting back to some serious testing 'with the gang' at Fiorano again and getting a lap record in front of Enzo, Mauro Forghieri, Harvey Postlewaite and those beloved mechanics, after the miserable year everyone endured, are you kidding me? Then, put that fire breathing, deadly red bullet on pole, the first weekend back, and at Monza?! Finally, narrowly escape the demons (failures) reeking havoc surrounding that sacred track and finish on the podium to make it a Ferrari 1-2-3 (They had just signed winner Rene Arnoux to Ferrari for '83) This hollywood script drove everyone to sheer and utter delirium.

Please, in the spirit of everything right in F1, listen to the whispers in the wind and whistling through the trees of every iconic racetrack around the world, succumb to the growing chant from the fans, thanks to Zak Brown for setting my soul on fire letting Mario drive again, flat out at Austin this year. In the name of passion, get this man and his family an entry into F1. "

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2. Posted by kenji, 06/12/2022 0:13

"@ Meatball....just picking up on your comments. Do you seriously think that if Audi or Porsche had decided to set up new teams that they would've benn denied entry...? Yes, in financial terms they both dwarf the Andretti Global business but if sheer financial clout is the deal breaker then the question would then fall back to encompass the likes of Williams, Haas et al. Remember that Audi and Porsche have no open wheel racing in their resume covering a very long time. Andretti have the last 20 years of grid time on theirs! Where are the 'anti discrimination' troops when the fans need them? Probably taking a knee at their favourite tavern at a Carribean resort."

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3. Posted by BrightonCorgi, 05/12/2022 20:46

"F1 could easily increase the prize pool to accommodate a new team.

Andretti's must be seen as a threat to Liberty Media. Be curious to read Bernie's thoughts on the Andretti's in F1. I would assume he's all for it."

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4. Posted by meatball, 05/12/2022 16:58

"as long as the teams are threatened with a reduced prize pool, they will fight tooth and nail to keep the team count low. Either find a way to increase the prize pool as the team numbers increase, or take the right to vote away from the teams - and watch the rest of the teams walk away... the system is deeply flawed. I don't see this really being a bias against the american teams.

now, the whole points system that deprioritizes Indy Car - THAT is completely flawed and biased and the FIA are the puppet masters there."

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5. Posted by kenji, 05/12/2022 1:29

"Surely there is much much more to this story than what we are lead to believe. The Andretti team was originally founded in '93 and formally aquired by Andretti in '03. They've been around quite some time with an enviable record of successes. Five Indy 500's race wins, four Indy series wins etc etc etc and of course Mario himself is a former F1 WDC plus a Le Mans winner. That's quite a list of achievements. They also appear to be well financed and most certainly have the expertise to compete at the highest level. IIRC Wolff said recently, 'and what do Andretti bring to F1'? as if to say they are not acceptable !!!. My guess is that Wolff/Mercedes simply don't want more competition. What Andretti would bring to the table would be, and to an extent I'm guessing here, massive increases in the number of viewers from the US who would, for the fist time in ages have a genuine US team racing for the 'gold medals'. As I said earlier, there's something driving this refusal to accept Andretti, and the F1 management are not being up front. Very sad and disappointing for the true followers of F1 who are being denied."

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6. Posted by Superbird70, 04/12/2022 20:25

"They will add a third car before they let Andretti field an F1 team."

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7. Posted by BrightonCorgi, 04/12/2022 15:29

"Easiest solution is for Andretti to become the majority owner of Haas F1 and Haas as title sponsor.

Migrate US operations to Andretti when it makes sense."

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8. Posted by KKK, 03/12/2022 12:05

"I cant see why Media Liberty, after making such an increase in Revenue and therefore profits can just give more to the teams. I would rather have more teams and less venues, but Im only speaking as a fan and not a shareholder...."

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9. Posted by alvarezh3, 02/12/2022 22:13

"@Defiant

Although maybe not the only "back" or hidden story......

There is a very simple arithmetic operation being applied here: As the divisor increases in value, the quotient diminishes.

Apply that to the team's income and you can see at least a good reason for some of them to reject the increase of competitors at the starting grid."

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10. Posted by Defiant, 02/12/2022 16:13

"The treatment here is obviously biased, if someone has the money and will they should be allowed to enter. There has to be a back story here that isn't in the public domain."

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11. Posted by Wokingchap, 02/12/2022 10:54

"Keep at it Michael. It's just not right that F1are throwing negativity at Andretti, and I can't understand why when they are so successful in the US. I wonder if Netflix has written the plot....."

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12. Posted by F1nerd, 02/12/2022 9:39

"Let him enter a team if he has the money and F1 could do with another team to spice up the action. Who cares what Toto thinks, he is not running the operation. And I was under the impression that Liberty wanted more from America."

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Andretti "not giving up" on F1 dream

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