Michael Andretti says he is "building" the team he hopes will be granted entry to the Formula 1 World Championship from as soon as 2025. Andretti were the first team to respond to the FIA's Expression of Interest process which was launched in January after long-time efforts to join Grand Prix racing. They will be supported by General Motors and the Cadillac brand, and the deadline for firm proposals is set for May 15th. The FIA is expected to announce which teams have been granted slots later in the summer. Andretti is continuing plans to build a new factory in Fishers, Indiana which will serve as the hub of their entire racing operation, which encompasses other series, including IndyCar, Formula E and Extreme E.
Andretti's plans for F1
"We're working on it. We have that process that we're in the middle of with the FIA," Andretti explained at the Miami Grand Prix to Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle, while also confirming he was targeting a 2025 entry. "[We're] submitting our paperwork and [will] hopefully get an answer [in the] middle of July, so we're making good progress. "We're building a team as we speak, and it would be awesome [to have the Andretti] name back in F1 - that and Cadillac would be awesome." RacingNews365 revealed in March that a candidate F1 team , based in Banbury (where Andretti's FE operation is also housed) had begun hiring key technical staff, including former Renault chief Nick Chester as Technical Director. John McQuilliam, formerly of Manor Grand Prix, and former Chester lieutenant Jon Tomlinson had also signed up to the "Top Tier Motorsport" operation as Chief Designer and Head of Aerodynamics, respectively.
Andretti one of many teams
In addition to the Andretti bid, the FIA currently have multiple prospective bids on the table. One is a Craig Pollock-backed bid dubbed 'Formula Equal' which is set to hire an equal split between men and women and is believed to have secured funding from a Gulf state - believed to be Saudi Arabia. However, President of the Saudi Motorsport Federation Prince Khalid stopped short of confirming involvement when asked by RacingNews365 at the Jeddah Grand Prix. There is also a bid from a British-based team working under the H26 banner, with this believed to be the Oliver Oakes-led Hitech squad. It is understood from sources that 'H26' is also testing in the former Mercedes wind-tunnel and making use of other facilities. The final publicly declared prospective entrant is LKY SUNZ - which declared their interest earlier in May 2023. The team - headed up by key figures from the Panthera project intend to base themselves in south east Asia and will focus on representation from marginalised groups having secured funding from the United States and Asia.
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