Michael Andretti believes his team could be in a position to compete for the Formula 1 World Championship within “five or six years” if their entry is accepted.

Andretti’s F1 plans took on a new level of seriousness last week when the outfit announced they had joined forces with General Motors, through the iconic Cadillac brand, in a new attempt to join the grid.

Despite aligning with a major car manufacturer, there remains some resistance to Andretti’s plans among the existing teams and Formula 1 itself. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has offered his backing to Andretti’s proposal, however.

Mr Andretti, who has led the team to success in IndyCar, believes the Andretti name could quickly emerge as one of the leading powers in F1.

He told Forbes: “We are coming in, in a serious way.

“It will take a long time to get there, but eventually we want to be one of the top teams in Formula One. Our end goal is to be competing for the World Championship five or six years down the road.

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“We aren’t doing this just to be there. Who cares about that? We want to be competing and race against the best in the world. We aren’t underestimating that. It will be a long building process, but we have a good plan to eventually get us there.”

Andretti revealed that he has not been disheartened by the relatively lukewarm response within F1 to his potential arrival, adding: “You have to stay focused on your job and not listen to the naysayers. I actually use the naysayers as motivation.

“It’s always fun to shut them up.”

Andretti also paid tribute to Group 1001 – the financial services company owned by Dan Towriss – for its backing of his F1 entry.

“Without them, it wouldn’t be happening,” he added. “They are the backbone of the whole thing. It’s been a fun project with them because they are great people. We’ve really enjoyed each other’s company working through this and getting to this point.

“I’m very lucky to be in this position. It’s been a dream.”

What’s not to like about Andretti’s F1 plans?

Formula 1’s teams have been insistent for some time that they will each not accept a smaller piece of the pie unless the pie as a whole is made substantially bigger.

With Andretti aligning with a manufacturer of General Motors’ stature for their latest attempt at an F1 entry, Michael and Mario’s clan could not have put forward a more convincing proposal.

Every challenge has been met and every box has been ticked. What’s not to like about Andretti’s plans, including a homegrown driver, as F1 – with three races spread across the United States in 2023 – aims to conquer America?

If it doesn’t succeed this time, F1 and its teams may live to regret the day they turned their nose up at the Andrettis.

The article Michael Andretti reveals timeline for potential F1 World Championship title challenge appeared first on Planetf1.com.