Andretti chases new staff hires as F1 push continues

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Despite having their bid to join the Grand Prix grid in 2025/6 rejected by Formula 1, Andretti Global is pushing ahead with its plans to field a new team in the championship.

Michael Andretti's operation formally opened a brand new 48,000 square foot facility at Silverstone earlier this month to serve as its European base, and is now seeking staff to fill the building with adverts appearing for 60 new jobs.

The advertised vacancies include senior roles such as head of aero development and head of mechanical design. Other openings are for engineering positions such as aerodynamics and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics).

The team is also seeking suitably experienced recruits in model design, electronics, control systems, IT, vehicle performance and manufacturing.

All the roles are based at the new Silverstone headquarters, located on the edge of the Grand Prix circuit and just across the road from the new Aston Martin's new headquarters.

Read also: Andretti inches closer to F1 with new Silverstone facility

It's still not clear when or even if Andretti will be allowed to enter F1. The formal reason for the sport's initial rejection of the team's application was that it didn't add sufficient value to the sport despite approval from the FIA.

Mario Andretti told AP at the weekend that he and his son Michael had never been given a convincing rationale for the rejection. He was convinced that it was "definitely on the financial side", adding: "Tell us what is really wrong.”

F1 bosses indicated they were unhappy that Andretti's proposed engine partner Cadillac isn't in a position to provide the new team with power units until 2028, suggesting they could review the application with that season in mind.

But getting the General Motors subsidiary to invest huge sums in creating a new engine without a guaranteed spot on the grid waiting for them is proving to be a classic Catch-22 situation.

"General Motors has made it so clear that they're excited about this project," Andretti said. "They have a long-term commitment there, and I don't know what else we can do."

Opening the new factory and hiring staff to work there is a bid to maintain momentum and apply pressure on F1 by showing they remain serious about muscling their way onto the grid at some point in the next four to five years.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.