close
close

Liberty Media confirms Justice Department investigation into Formula 1 World Championship dispute


Liberty Media confirms Justice Department investigation into Formula 1 World Championship dispute

Liberty Media, owner of the Formula One Group, confirmed that the Department of Justice is investigating it for Andretti Global enters Formula 1 World Cup.

“We intend to cooperate fully with this investigation, including all related requests for information,” Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei said during a conference call Thursday.

Formula 1’s rejection in January came after a six-month review of Andretti’s application. The reasons for the rejection were taken personally by Mario and Michael Andretti, as well as by General Motors, which plans to partner with Andretti in Formula 1 under its Cadillac brand. The offer would expand the current 10-team grid to make room for a two-car American team.

Maffei said on Thursday that the company was open to new applicants and could be admitted under certain conditions.

The Justice Department declined to comment Thursday.

Formula One’s claims in connection with the rejection included that it did not believe Andretti would be a competitive team; that the Andretti name did not add the value to the series that Michael Andretti expected it to; and that it would be an unprecedented challenge for Andretti to compete for the next two years.

Mario Andretti said in April that he was deeply offended by the language used by Formula 1 management when it rejected the offer to join the global motorsport series. The 1978 Formula 1 world champion posted on social media that he was “devastated.”

In May, six US Senators called on the Ministry of Justice The complainant requested that the refusal be reviewed on the grounds that there were concerns that Formula 1 was acting on behalf of individual teams and other “important interest groups”, including foreign car manufacturers, and that this could constitute a breach of antitrust law.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *