Michael Andretti is eagerly waiting to learn the status of his application for Andretti Global to become a car owner and constructor in the Formula 1 World Championship. Yet, the son of 1978 Formula 1 champion Mario Andretti remains hopeful his bid will get the green light. Andretti’s dream of bringing a United States-based team to Formula 1 with an American driver has endured a tremendous amount of scrutiny, including opposition from Austrian billionaire Toto Wolff, the CEO and team principal of Mercedes-Benz AMG Petronas F1. One challenge Andretti has conquered is raising the capital required to start a Formula 1 team from scratch. Two years ago, Andretti’s group was willing to invest $600 million to purchase the Sauber F1 team. Andretti’s partner is Dan Towriss, the CEO of Group1001 and Gainbridge. “(When) Michael (Andretti) was looking to get into Formula 1 — they were working on a deal with Alfa Romeo — we were looking to become a small part of that (as an investor), like 10 or 20 percent,” Towriss explained.

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