Justice Department Probing Formula 1 Andretti Rejection — Update

By Colin Kellaher

The Justice Department has opened an investigation into Formula One's rejection of a bid by Andretti Formula Racing to enter the FIA Formula One World Championship.

Liberty Media on Thursday said it was notified that the Justice Department's antitrust division is looking into Formula One's conduct concerning the application.

Formula One in January rejected Andretti's bid to enter the championship as an 11th team in 2025 or 2026, saying the new team wouldn't add value to the championship.

The Andretti team, led by Michael Andretti, had paired up with General Motors' Cadillac brand in a bid to launch the first Formula One team with an American-made car. Michael Andretti is the son of 1978 world champion Mario Andretti.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators in May asked the DOJ to investigate Formula One's decision to reject Andretti's bid, saying they believed Formula One was acting at the behest of its current racing teams and other stakeholders, including foreign automakers, to exclude the Andretti team, and that the rejection, if orchestrated through a group boycott, could violate U.S. antitrust laws.

Liberty Media, which has tracking stock to reflect the economic performance of its Formula One group, said it will fully cooperate with the investigation, including any related requests for information.

Shares of the Liberty Formula One tracking stock were recently down 4.1% to $67.74.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 08, 2024 13:01 ET (17:01 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.