Andretti Global opens UK facility despite F1 rejection

• Motorsport team will also look to take over a nearby 70,000-square-foot facility
• European base hopes to house Formula E and WEC entries, in addition to F1 plans

Andretti Global has opened a UK facility in Silverstone Park despite being rejected from joining the Formula One grid.

The new 48,000-square-foot building replaces a temporary office that the US-based outfit had been using until now, and the team will eventually take over a 70,000-square-foot building nearby.

The site will house various manufacturing facilities, but the building of the cars will be carried out at the team’s US$200 million headquarters in Fishers, Indiana. The Silverstone base will work hand-in-hand with the new headquarters, as well as with General Motors in North Carolina, US, and the team’s Formula E facility in Banbury, UK.

This is a clear signal of intent from Andretti to press on with a Formula One entry despite being told that ‘the presence of an 11th team would not […] provide value to the Championship’ in a lengthy rejection letter from the series.

If series executives reverse on the decision to reject Andretti, the US-based team plans to use Renault power units for its first two seasons before switching to Cadillac power units from General Motors in 2028.

• Why General Motors chose Andretti for its F1 entry bid
• Andretti’s hopes of joining F1 grid in 2025 rejected

In addition, the team will look to base junior programmes at the site, if successful, with teams in Formula Two and Formula Three designed to provide opportunities to young American drivers.

It is hoped the Formula E team will eventually move to Silverstone from the current Banbury site, while a future sportscar programme is also being explored by Andretti.

“This is going to be mainly for F1, these two facilities,” Michael Andretti told Autosport. “But we also want to bring in our Formula E team and start integrating it here.

“Our goal is to have an F3/F2 team to help support the F1 team, and then maybe even a WEC [World Endurance Championship] team. So we want to make this our hub for the European racing. So a lot of a lot of cool plans in this area.”

BlackBook says…

Any doubts surrounding Andretti’s commitment to a Formula One entry can be shelved.

This is a substantial investment from the American team, and the backing from General Motors and Guggenheim Partners means this will only continue to develop.

Formula One now risks looking even more short-sighted than it did after releasing its rejection letter, especially as this sits alongside rumours of Renault’s wavering dedication to its Alpine team after a poor start to the season.

It also sits unfavourably alongside other motorsport series that have been open to expanding to new entrants, like MotoGP and Trackhouse Racing, IndyCar and Prema Racing, and Formula E and Lola Cars.

Now with a European base in the heart of British motorsport, Andretti will make for noisy neighbours if Formula One continues to ignore them.