Andretti Autosport on Thursday did not deny a report that it is looking into the possibility of trying to acquire financially-challenged Formula 1 team Force India. Andretti Owner Michael Andretti was spotted by TV cameras in McLaren’s garage at this past weekend’s Canadian GP in Montreal, amid McLaren looking at joining IndyCar as part of a partnership with Andretti. But veteran F1 reporter Joe Saward revealed in his weekly Motorsportweek.com column that Andretti, team President J-F Thormann and Pieter Rossi, father of IndyCar driver Alexanderi Rossi, also met with Liberty Media and Force India, the latter of which has been rumored for months to be for sale amid financial issues. Asked about the report, Andretti in a statement told THE DAILY: "Andretti Autosport is a diverse Motorsports property and we have many discussions about opportunities within and outside of our current portfolio."
In addition to its IndyCar team, Andretti also is part of teams in Formula E, Americas Rallycross and Supercars, but any sort of involvement with F1 would mark a new level of financial commitment and exposure to the team’s wide portfolio. Haas F1, owned by machine parts titan Gene Haas, is currently the only American-owned team in the global open-wheel racing series.
