Andretti Cadillac Already Developing F1 Car, Despite Not Being Approved Yet

Andretti Cadillac F1 wants to get off to a running start, which means it’s gambling that its application to join the sport will be approved

The proposed Andretti Cadillac F1 team is showing promise as a potential entry into Formula One in the near future, even though the team hasn’t received approval for competition. Nevertheless, that hasn’t deterred them from beginning work on their project.

Andretti Global has already established a base of operations in the U.K., hired senior staff from the world of F1, and even spent some time in the wind tunnel with a scale model, despite the fact that it has yet to receive approval to commence racing.

“Time is always of the essence in F1,” Michael Andretti, the CEO of Andretti Global, told The Athletic. “We’ve been working as fast as we possibly can to ensure we have as competitive a car and as strong a team as possible when we do take our place on the grid.”

Although Andretti knows a thing or two about leading a successful race team in the U.S., it has hired someone with loads of F1 experience as its technical director. Nick Chester spent years in the sport and played a major role at Renault when it won back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006.

He is joined by Jon Tomlinson, who will be the team’s head of aerodynamics, and John McQuilliam, its chief designer, both of whom also have years of experience in the sport. They will play an important role at the team because, after years of waiting to join F1, Andretti doesn’t just want to compete, it wants to win.

Read: FIA Approves Andretti’s Bid To Enter F1 With Cadillac, But It’s Not Over Yet

While there is skepticism about adding an 11th team to the grid from Formula One Management (FOM), the body that must ultimately decide on whether Andretti Cadillac F1 can join the sport, others seem to be excited about the team.

“I was pleasantly surprised, in a way, how easy it was to draw people to the project,” said Chester. “There’s a real draw of a new team, the Andretti name. A blank sheet tends to have a very proactive culture. We’ve had people joining from Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren. They all wanted a new challenge.”

Despite Andretti Global’s excitement, there remains a very real risk that FOM will deny the entry. Existing F1 teams aren’t eager to share the prize money with a new entrant, and one of the big complaints about newly created teams is that they frequently fail, making the whole sport look bad.

Andretti thinks that getting its ducks in a row early will only help its application, though. If it can prove that it is preparing itself to get off to a running start, it may be a more attractive entrant.

“As Mohammed (Ben Sulayem) has said a number of times, the benefits we will bring to the sport and the championship are so obvious,” said Andretti. “I can’t imagine anyone would want to try to stop us, and deprive racing fans of the opportunity to see a genuine American works team going head-to-head with the legendary names currently competing in F1.”