Andretti has made another push for their F1 entry. The latest comes in the form of a facility set up in UK’s Silverstone. The facility, as per Sky F1, will house 400 employees while the US factory in Indianapolis will have another 700. That number of 1,100 workforce proves their commitment to the F1 project and puts them on par with the best in the business.
For comparison, only heavyweights like Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari boast such numbers. As per Mercedes’ official website, their F1 wing employs 1,191 workers.
According to a 2023 article on Red Bull Racing’s official website, the Austrian team had 800 employees in 2022. Ferrari, on the other hand, has a total of 5,000 employees, of which only 700 work for the F1 team in Maranello.
Andretti’s number would not only put them on par with Mercedes but also ahead of the rest of the lot. Those include legacy teams like Williams, McLaren, and Alpine (previously Renault).
Meanwhile, Haas, which represents America in the championship, is a far smaller operation. The Gene Haas-owned team, as per their official website, has only 200 employees. All that workforce is divided between their different operations in the US, UK and Italy.
Despite this commitment to not just participating but also competing at the top, Andretti saw his bid to enter F1 rejected. The FOM, in its observations, highlighted the American giants’ inability to add value to the championship. Michael Andretti took exception to that and vowed to expand the prize money pot among teams with their competitiveness.
Michael Andretti takes another stride towards F1 dream
Earlier this year, FOM rejected Andretti’s bid to enter F1 for the 2025 and 2026 season. Despite that, the racing behemoth has established the Silverstone facility.
That is in addition to the Indianapolis factory that the Andretti family broke ground for earlier in 2022. Both facilities will divide the workload as the UK staff will be responsible for aerodynamics and design wing, while the US factory will manufacture the chassis.
FOM, while rejecting the bid, expressed its willingness to reconsider an entry for 2028 when the team will have its own engines through their partners, General Motors. Michael Andretti revealed the automaker was working behind the scenes to produce power units for their chassis. That engine, he claims, will in fact be ready by 2028.
“Once everybody understands what we are really putting together it’ll be a point where they can’t say no” ⛔
Michael Andretti is convinced that his prospective F1 team will eventually join the grid ️ pic.twitter.com/GBxPxINGTr
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 10, 2024
The former F1 driver, however, demands an entry into the championship in 2026. He reasons that he will have an engine by 2028 but cannot turn up to the championship without a car and team to work around it. Hence, it will be interesting to see if the FOM will pay heed to the demand and reconsider their decision.
