by Liberty Media, owner of Formula One Group, has confirmed it is under investigation by the Justice Department for denying Andretti Global entry into the Formula One world championship.
“We intend to cooperate fully with this investigation, including any related requests for information,” Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei said on a conference call Thursday.
F1’s rejection in January came after a six-month review of Andretti’s application and the reasoning for the refusal was taken personally by Mario and Michel Andrettias well as General Motors, which plans to partner with Andretti in F1 under its Cadillac brand. The offer would expand the current 10-team grid to accommodate a two-car American team.
Maffei said Thursday that the company was open to new entrants who applied and were potentially approved if certain conditions were met.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Among F1’s claims related to the rejection were that it did not believe Andretti would be a competitive team; that the Andretti name did not bring the value to the series that Michael Andretti believed it would; and that entering the grid in the next two years would be a challenge that Andretti had never faced before.
Mario Andretti said in April that he was deeply offended by the language used by Formula One Management to reject the Formula One team’s bid for the global competition. The 1978 Formula One world champion said on social media that he was “devastated”.
In May, six U.S. senators asked the Justice Department to review the rejection, saying there were concerns that Formula One was acting on behalf of individual teams and other “key stakeholders,” including foreign automakers, and that this could violate antitrust laws.
