Formula 1 News: Andretti Global F1 Design Team Ramping Up (3rd Update)
Per an article by Luke Smith in The Athletic, the Andretti Global design team, led by Technical Director Nick Chester, is hard at work on the design of their 2026 F1 car, knowing that having a car on the grid by 2025 is now out of the question.
F1 is still in the process of evaluating Andretti’s proposal, with a decision expected in the near future.
“Time is always of the essence in F1,” Michael Andretti, Andretti Global’s CEO and chairman, 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.”
A new satellite base for the American team in the UK, located at Silverstone, is up and running, working in tandem with the existing headquarters in Indianapolis. Andretti plans to open a new HQ in Fishers, Indiana, next year that will serve as the global base for its various racing operations, but as of now, construction never really got off the ground because of a lawsuit.
Per our report below, Nick Chester joined as its F1 technical director last spring, having spent over 20 years at Enstone through the team’s various guises and playing a pivotal role in Renault’s back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006 (that team is now Alpine). He’s supported by head of aerodynamics Jon Tomlinson, formerly of Williams and Renault, and chief designer John McQuilliam, who has nearly four decades’ experience in F1.
The headcount for Andretti’s F1 operation now stands at over 120, most of whom are on the technical team. It puts the technical group not far off the size of those at the smaller, existing F1 teams.
Chester appreciated the chance to build a technical group from scratch, setting the right values and culture from the beginning. “I was pleasantly surprised, in a way, how easy it was to draw people to the project,” he told The Athletic. “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. It’s that real potential to shape departments, which is very attractive.”
Because the 2026 technical regulations are not published yet. the Andretti team is designing to the current regulations. Perhaps a waste of time, but a good exercise nonetheless.
The group set about designing a car for the current technical regulations using CFD. That evolved into a 2023 model at a 60 percent scale running in Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany.
In mid-2024, the team plans to build a full-size Andretti F1 chassis to use as a prototype model that it will use for early homologation testing, as well as constructing the suspension and other on-car systems.
“It takes time to build competitive race cars,” Andretti explained. “I’m very happy that we have made so much progress already on long-lead activities such as aerodynamic design and simulation.
“We don’t underestimate the task.”
GM Actively Engaged
GM plans to have a full F1 engine program, giving works support to the Andretti Cadillac team by 2028.
The team has to purchase an engine from another manufacturer as a stop-gap for 2026 and 2027.
Around 50 GM engineers (included in the team’s 120 headcount) are working on the Andretti F1 program. GM supported the CFD development of the wind tunnel models, and is already manufacturing parts and working on projects such as the roll hoop design and hydraulic systems at its Charlotte, North Carolina base.
Michael Andretti said the GM relationship had brought “immediate benefits” to the project. “It is really great to see race car components that have been designed in-house by Andretti Cadillac, already being manufactured in the USA by GM,” he added.
Design team marching ahead assuming approval will come
Andretti Global is not part of the existing Concorde Agreement, so having a car on the grid for 2025 was almost always out of the question.
Negotiations for the new 2026 Concorde Agreement will commence soon and it is assumed Andretti Global we be part of that dealmaking.
Andretti is not letting the wait for F1’s decision hold it back. The team believes the best way to prove it will be a strong addition to the F1 grid is to get on with preparations at full speed. Chester feels this mindset has fostered a buzz within the team.
“If everybody knows you’re just pushing on, then everybody’s focusing on their own areas, trying to generate as much performance as they can,” Chester said. “That generates a great atmosphere, so that’s the way we’ve gone about it.”
March 23, 2023
–by Mark Cipolloni–
Andretti Global is rumored to have made another key F1 hire – Aerodynamicist Jon Tomlinson, who started in F1 in 1995 and was head of aerodynamics at Williams for five years.
He then moved to Renault and then followed Chester to Mercedes in Formula E, which became McLaren Formula E when Mercedes pulled out of the series.
Apparently Tomlinson has followed Chester onto Andretti Global, though none of this has been announced by the team yet. Like Chester, Tomlinson’s LinkedIn page says he is now working onsite for a top-tier motorsports team in Banbury, England – just where Nick Chester says he is working.
Tomlinson’s Linked Page says: I am looking to hire several roles within the field of Aerodynamic development to work on a top-tier motorsport project:
– Aerodynamicists
– Aero Performance Engineers
– Model Design Engineers
– Surface Design Engineers
– Model Makers/Technicians
– CFD Engineers
– Software Engineers
Multiple levels will be considered (Junior/Mid/Senior+).
All roles are UK based; ideal candidates will have prior motorsport experience.
If interested, please message me directly, or at jon.tomlinson@sky.com
After submitting their Expression of Interest to enter F1 as the 13th team, Andretti Global and partner Cadillac, are working to submit their detailed proposal – due to the FIA on or before April 30th.
A decision on their entry will be made by June 30th. The period between April 30th and June 30th is when the FIA can ask Andretti for clarity or more detail on their proposal to help them make their final decision.
Hitech and Panthera Asia are two other rumored potential bidders.
March 15, 2023
–by Mark Cipolloni–
On his personal LinkedIn page, Nick Chester says he is currently working for a ‘Top Tier Motorsport Team’ based in Banbury, England which is where Andretti’s Formula E team operates from. Chester was Technical Director for Renault between 2016 and 2020.
Former Jordan chief designer John McQuilliam’s LinkedIn also says he began working for a ‘Top Tier Motorsport Team’ this month in Milton Keynes, but that is where Red Bull is located. Milton Keynes is a 50 min. drive from Banbury. Perhaps he is working for Andretti Global from home currently.
McQuilliam worked for all back marker F1 teams – Jordan, Marussia and Manor.
These guys have been out of F1 for so long, does Andretti really think they can design a competitive car against the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston Martin, etc?
March 13, 2023
–By Mark Cipolloni–
Andretti Global is rumored to have recruited ex-Renault technical chief Nick Chester as technical director for its Formula 1 project following his departure from McLaren’s Formula E team.
Chester took over from James Allison in 2013 as technical director at Renault, still operating under the Lotus name. He remained in charge of the team’s technical operations until 2020. He then moved on to the Mercedes Formula E team, where he won two titles in a row with his team, and stayed there for the first transition to McLaren.
Andretti’s interest as a new team in Formula 1 was not well received by the current teams, with these teams wanting to increase the entry fee from $200 million to $600 million.
Despite this, Andretti is charging full steam ahead. Autosport reports that they have brought in Chester. “In Andretti’s hunt for F1 experience, a source has confirmed to Autosport that the team has managed to lure Chester from Formula E to head up its technical operations as it continues its expansion plans.”