Andretti Global has officially opened a facility at Silverstone which it hopes will be the hub of a future Formula One team.
The American company was granted entry by the the governing FIA last year, but had its application to join in 2025 or 2026 denied by Formula One Management (FOM) in January.
F1 left the door open for Andretti to join in 2028 if it can convince General Motors to build its own power unit as part of the bid.
Team owner Michael Andretti is still pushing for an entry in 2026 and its 48,000 square foot U.K. facility, which officially opened Wednesday, has that aim in mind.
A workforce of around 80 people are designing and developing a car which could race in 2026.
“We have said that our work continues at pace; this new facility embodies that work,” Andretti said.
“While we plan to have an all-American team — with the car assembled in the U.S. — having a European base is a great way to attract the best in F1 talent and install state of the art machinery.
“I want to see integration between all the bases, between the U.S. and Silverstone, as we move forward – but that is already happening today, with some really great collaboration on all fronts.
“There is literally hundreds of years of experience in this Silverstone building. Every person here knows what they are doing and is capable of building a very competitive race car. We’re excited by this very unique opportunity as we move forward.”
F1 will enforce for a new set of technical rules in 2026, which could shake up the current competitive order.
Andretti’s push for a 2026 entry looks like an uphill struggle. One of the key reasons for F1 rejecting the bid originally was the feeling the American team would not be competitive if it had to rely on a customer engine deal (likely with Renault) if it joined in the next few seasons.
Andretti has long insisted the team is on pace to be ready in time for 2025, if needed, although an entry for next year would effectively have meant producing two completely different cars under two different sets of regulations.
Source: www.espn.com