Andretti has started its work towards its F1 entry even though it isn’t confirmed yet, with things starting to move in UK and also US.
Having cleared the FIA obstacle, Andretti is waiting to an all-clear from FOM side to make it on the F1 grid from 2026 onward. Even though the rivals don’t want an 11th outfit, the American team is gearing up well to be there in the years to come.
Their alliance partner Cadillac has not just to enter F1 as a team, but its parent company General Motors have been accepted as a power unit supplier from 2028 onward. In an interview with The Athletic, it revealed some details about its program.
A satellite base has been set-up at Silverstone which is working in tandem with its headquarters in Indianapolis. The headcount at the moments sits at more than 120 members, most of whom are in the technical department.
The count has about 50 engineers from General Motors who are assisting the Andretti group of personnel. They are helping in CFD development of the wind tunnel models and they are working on projects like roll hoop designs and hydraulic systems.
Also, they have evolved a 2023 model at a 60% scale in Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne, and the plan is to build a full-size chassis by mid-2024. “It’s a team that wants to do it properly and wants to win,” said Nick Chester, Andretti’s technical hiring. “You don’t want to be anywhere that doesn’t have that ethos.
“As I started talking before I joined, the resource behind it, the effort that was going to go behind it to make it win, just made it very, very attractive. I was pleasantly surprised, in a way, how easy it was to draw people to the project. There’s a real draw of a new team, the Andretti name. A blank sheet tends to have a very proactive culture.
“We’ve had people joining from Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren. They all wanted a new challenge. It’s that real potential to shape departments, which is very attractive. We wouldn’t have got half of what we’ve got done now without GM’s involvement. It’s not an arrangement where you throw things backwards and forwards, it’s much more like one team.
“It’s getting really nicely integrated. If everybody knows you’re just pushing on, then everybody’s focusing on their own areas, trying to generate as much performance as they can. That generates a great atmosphere, so that’s the way we’ve gone about it,” summed up Chester.
Meanwhile, Andretti Global CEO Michael added: “Time is always of the essence in F1. We’ve been working as fast as we possibly can to ensure we have as competitive a car and as strong a team as possible when we do take our place on the grid. It takes time to build competitive race cars.
“I’m very happy that we have made so much progress already on long-lead activities such as aerodynamic design and simulation. We don’t underestimate the task. As Mohammed [Ben Sulayem] has said a number of times, the benefits we will bring to the sport and the championship are so obvious.
“I can’t imagine anyone would want to try to stop us, and deprive racing fans of the opportunity to see a genuine American works team going head-to-head with the legendary names currently competing in F1.”
Here’s Frederic Vasseur on F1 team and nationality
Here’s F1 team bosses on General Motors’ scene
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