Andretti F1 - 2025

[Tourer]

More from Autosport re the signing of Pat Symonds by Andretti. It's in the "Plus" section of the site so in case you can't access it, I've inserted here (hope that's OK):

The wider significance of Andretti’s Symonds signing
OPINION: Andretti’s signing of Pat Symonds is the latest major move of its plan to join the Formula 1 grid. While engineering and rules knowhow is a given, there are more routes that he can help the American squad down to overturn its recent rejection by the championship’s chiefs

Jonathan NobleMay 23, 2024, 5:33 PM

They say a wounded animal is the most dangerous in the world. And ever since Andretti Global’s hopes of entering Formula 1 were bloodied back in January when Liberty Media rejected its bid to get on the grid, it has been aggressive in defending itself. Rather than quietly accept F1’s rejection and call time on its ambitions, it has been fighting back in an ever-stronger manner to achieve its dream.

It has been working on new facilities, having opened a new 40,000-square foot building at Silverstone which is home to its design office and aero department. The organisation will also eventually take over an adjacent 70,000-square foot building.

Andretti has been calling on United States politicians to fight its cause too. Visits to Capitol Hill have helped encourage senators to start challenging F1’s rejection of Andretti as a potential breach of anti-competition law.

Beyond all that, Andretti has been on a massive recruitment drive as well to continue preparing its 2026 challenger. But this week marked a next level move when, just hours after it emerged F1’s chief technical officer Pat Symonds was leaving his role, Andretti put out a press release revealing it was bringing him on board.

In purely technical terms, it would be wrong to say that this is a game-changing moment akin to one of the current competitors getting hold of Adrian Newey. Symonds hasn’t been involved in the competitive side of things since he left Williams at the end of 2016.

Since then, his CTO role at F1 has been about framing and delivering regulations that Liberty Media wanted to deliver to help improve the show. This included the cost cap, the arrival of the 2022 ground effect era and, most recently, the completion of the 2026 chassis and power unit regulations that will marks perhaps the biggest rules revamp that F1 has ever witnessed.

It had long been anticipated that the signing off of the 2026 rules, which are due to be published at the start of next month, would be the perfect moment for Symonds, who is approaching his 71st birthday, to move on.

His involvement in the regulatory environment, rather than a competitive one working for a team, means he will not be as on top of the performance characteristics of the current cars as someone who has been working hard on them for one of the entrants.

However, the real significance of Symonds’ capture is the political aspect of it. He has moved from the organisation that has emerged as the road block to Andretti’s aspirations and is now the one trying to help it push on through. It is a proper gamekeeper turned poacher moment.

Symonds will arrive with a wealth of knowledge about what’s been going on behind the scenes at F1, and what he thinks is needed to get the entry across the line. F1 has not issued any official comment on the matter, but the fact that Symonds has been put on gardening leave makes clear that the situation is not all rosy.

Symonds’ role is to ensure Andretti’s ‘quality’ is good enough to convince F1 to change its mind. He will know the boxes that need to be ticked, the people that need to be contacted and the back doors that can be accessed

In referencing the arrival of Symonds, team CEO Michael Andretti was keen to point out beyond the technical knowledge his new employee has, there was a significance to him having come from F1.

“I believe his expertise has been pivotal in shaping the narrative of Formula 1 and his vote of confidence in joining our effort speaks volumes,” he said. “I’m really happy with this next step as our work continues at pace.”

In his role at F1, Symonds will have had intimate knowledge of the decision-making process regarding the new team entries, and especially the motivations and factors that were taking place behind closed doors. While he never publicly commented on the Andretti situation while at F1, it was less than two years ago that Symonds spoke about the potential for new teams on stage at Autosport International.

Asked about possible expansion of the grid, he said: “I will welcome new teams. We are just perfectly well with 20 cars, but there is no harm in having more cars, providing their quality. We don’t want to get back to seeing the HRT thing of 2011 or whenever it was, but you know the sport is a pedigree success story.”

Symonds’ role now is to ensure that Andretti’s ‘quality’ is good enough to convince F1 to change its mind. He will fully know the boxes that need to be ticked, the people that need to be contacted and the back doors that can be accessed to help gain entry to the exclusive F1 club.

When F1 rejected Andretti’s application back in January, it was adamant that it did not believe the American squad had the capability to be competitive. One of the lead explanations for its thought process was: “The most significant way in which a new entrant would bring value is by being competitive. We do not believe that the Applicant would be a competitive participant.”

Despite all the stirring of the pot by Andretti, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has long remained steadfast that the decision made back in January was the right thing. Speaking earlier this year, he said: “With regard to what has happened [with Andretti Cadillac], I think that the process has been followed, and we presented the result in the right way. For the future it's a matter of discussion, of course, with the teams, with the right commercial and technical proposition that will be discussed accordingly, within this year.”

But, with Symonds now committed to Andretti, F1 will have one of its own key figures out to prove its initial assessment was wrong.