Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility

The team was granted an entry by the FIA last October, but failed to pass the second stage of the process when F1 did not approve its bid in a statement issued on January 31. The project thus remains in limbo while discussions continue behind the scenes.

The team continues to target an entry in 2026, should an agreement with F1 be reached.

Despite the lack of confirmation of an entry it is pushing ahead with its plans, and the new facility is the highest-profile sign thus far that its ambition to join the grid is undimmed.

Hitherto the design team has been working in a temporary office on the Silverstone Park estate opposite the British GP venue.

The team has now commenced its move to the new 40,000-square-foot facility close by, with the aero department already in situ and the mechanical department set to follow. The team will also eventually take over an adjacent 70,000-square-foot building.

The design department and the race team will be based in Silverstone, while manufacturing and the building of the cars will eventually be undertaken in the USA at the new facility in Fishers, close to Indianapolis. Some R&D and design is also being undertaken at General Motors in Charlotte.

If an entry is ultimately granted for 2026, the plan remains to use Renault power for the first two seasons under the new regulations, before a switch to a Cadillac powerplant in 2028.

“F1 is obviously the pinnacle of auto racing in the world,” Michael Andretti told a gathering of team staff at Wednesday’s ceremony.

“We’re in all different types of racing series, but to be in F1 is at the top. And so that’s why I think for our brand, it’d be huge.

“And it’ll just complete our goal, and that is to be in every single major sporting racing event in the world. And then obviously, getting to F1 is the top of that.

“So it’s a big goal, it’s been a goal of ours for a few years now. And we are right there, we’re going to be there. And we feel very strongly that we’re going to be there.

“And we’re building a fantastic team as well, this is something that’s going to be unique to F1, to build a real F1 team from scratch with great brains. And this is something that I think could catch a lot of people off-guard, when we do finally get on the grid.”

Andretti Global partner Dan Towriss stressed that the commissioning of the new UK base was a key…