Michael Andretti, combined with his partners at General Motors and Group1001, are forging ahead with its Formula 1 plans despite rejection after rejection from that community.
Andretti Global was given a green light by the FIA to enter the pinnacle of global motorsports by 2025 or 2026 but was subsequently rejected by F1’s commercial rights holders, Formula One Management, which questioned the team and its ability to be competitive and financially additive to grand prix competition.
The team issued a rebuttal to that decision, stating that it ‘strongly disagreed’ with the general sentiments but also denying that it had rebuffed communication efforts from the Formula One Management group.
Regardless, Andretti Global continues to forge ahead with its goal to join the grid by 2026, at first using a Renault engine before the sport undergoes a transition to its next generation platform in 2028, by which point General Motors will have its own platform prepared.
Work also continues in North Carolina at the General Motors racing facility with former Lotus and Renault Formula 1 technical director Nick Chester spearheading the project.
On Thursday, it opened a 48,000 square foot facility based at the Silverstone Park business center adjacent to the home of the annual British Grand Prix. It already employs 80 people talked with the development of a car that could race in 2026 and was unveiled to the public by Michael Andretti, Mario Andretti, Dan Towriss of Group1001 and team president J-F Thormann.
“We have said that our work continues at pace; this new facility embodies that work,” Michael 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.”
Andretti also told Sky Sports in the U.K. that it continues to work hand in hand with the FIA to make inroads in garnering approval from the teams that currently split revenue in sport, thus dictating the direction of FOM.
“General Motors is huge coming to the party,” Andretti said. “They are not just coming to be here, they are coming here to be a big part of our team, and I think it’s not been understood yet how big that is. I think once everybody understands what we are really putting together it’ll be a point where they can’t say no.”
The facility, which is based in the spiritual heart of Formula 1, also intends to launch a presence in F2 and F3 – expressing its holistic commitment to participating in the discipline.
The reason Andretti whole heartedly wants 2026 and 2027 on the grid before the new engine regulations kick in is that he wants a firm footing to be fully prepared to compete by 2028.
“They [General Motors] are currently building an engine,” Andretti said. “They are already registered to do it.
So we will have an engine in ’28, but obviously we need to build to get there. To just, all of a sudden, show up in ’28 with a new engine and no team, we need two years to build there to get there that when we do get our own engine the team’s ready to go and be competitive.
“So we are not naive in any way in that way.
“One thing is General Motors, it’s not something that’s small. General Motors has never been in Formula 1 so to have them come with us says something because they were not just going to do it just on their own, they wanted to do it with a partnership like us.
“So I think the whole way we’re going about it is something that’s never been done before and that’s going to be huge for Formula 1, especially in the United States with having an all-American car being built in America with American owners, American engine and American driver.
“It’s never been done before, and I think with the American market which is still very much untapped it’s only going to help it explode. So to us, it’s a no-brainer, and I think to almost anybody you talk to it’s a no-brainer, so we’ve still got to talk to FOM and get them to understand that it’s going to be better for everybody.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.