Andretti Global has officially opened its F1 facility at Silverstone, as it “continues preparations for a potential entry in 2026,” according to Chris Medland of RACER.com. The 48,000 square foot facility is based at the Silverstone Park technology and business park at the home of the British GP and has a “current workforce of around 80 people designing and developing a car that could race in 2026.” The Silverstone base houses “manufacturing facilities, including pattern, model and machine shops, ADM, electronics, R&D and additional office and meeting facilities.” It will “work alongside the main site in Indiana and the organization’s Formula E base in Banbury.” Andretti Global owner Michael Andretti: “We have said that our work continues at pace; this new facility embodies that work. 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.” Andretti said the Silverstone facility will be completed in phases “according to commercial and sporting needs and workforce requirements.” But the F1 team has yet to secure an entry. Formula One Management (FOM) rejected Andretti’s bid to join the grid by 2026 earlier this year. Despite that announcement from FOM, the FIA is “still working with Andretti on its plans,” having assessed its “financial and technical capabilities to be sufficient for an entry” (RACER.com, 4/10).
DISPLAY OF AMBITION: MOTORSPORT.com’s Adam Cooper wrote the new facility is the “highest-profile sign thus far that its ambition to join the grid is undimmed.” 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” (MOTORSPORT.com, 4/10).
