Eddie Jordan makes big Andretti prediction about F1 entry plans

Former F1 team principal Eddie Jordan predicts Andretti WILL be on the Formula 1 grid in the 2026 season, despite their entry having been rejected.

Andretti was the only team that had its initial bid approved by the FIA after its Expressions of Interest process was announced in February 2023, but their entry was denied after talks advanced to Formula One Management [FOM].

Eddie Jordan predicts Andretti ‘will be on the grid in ’26’

Andretti teamed up with General Motors through Cadillac to gain a power unit partnership in support of their bid, and even after being rejected in early 2024, team owner Michael Andretti said their “work continues at pace” regarding a proposed Formula 1 entry.

His father, 1978 Formula 1 World Champion Mario Andretti, recently hinted that change may be afoot at the company, telling Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport: “This is an issue that involves my son Michael and his company, not me.

“What I can say is that there will be news and changes, and that my full support goes to my son for all the decisions and choices he has made during this period and will make in the future to manage the situation as best he can.”

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With regards to their potential Formula 1 credentials, however, former team owner Jordan believes there will be pressure for Andretti to make it onto the grid in future, with Formula 1 owners, American mass media company Liberty Media, having placed significant effort in making the sport more marketable in the United States since their takeover of the sport in 2017.

“Andretti, see how tough the Americans are going to be with Formula 1 with regard to Andretti,” Jordan said on the Formula For Success podcast.

“And now I want you, in a year’s time, to come back to me and say, ‘s***, I never saw that coming, I didn’t think they’d get the entry.’

“I’m telling you now, they will be on the grid in ’26.”

In their extensive rejection of the Andretti-Cadillac bid, Formula 1 stated that: “We do not believe that [Andretti] would be a competitive participant, and “while the Andretti name carries some recognition for F1 fans, our research indicates that F1 would bring value to the Andretti brand rather than the other way around.”

With team principals having long voiced their belief that a new entry should improve add considerable value to the series, the rejection statement wtire: “We do not believe that the Applicant has shown that it would add value to the Championship.”

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