Whilst they’re yet to be officially announced as a new Formula 1 team, Andretti are pushing on with their preparations in the expectation that they will be granted a place on the grid, by hiring a technical director.
Andretti declared their interest in entering a team into the pinnacle of motorsport after responding to the FIA’s ‘Expression of Interest’ process, in partnership with General Motors and Cadillac.
The Americans are tipped as the most likely prospective side to be granted a place on the grid, despite current sides seemingly doing all they can to stop Andretti from joining the championship.
The vast majority of the current teams are pushing for the anti-dilution fee to be tripled from $200 million, to $600 million, something that could result in the European Union stepping in reportedly.
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Andretti will discover in June if they’ve been successful or not, with that being the FIA’s deadline to make a decision on what two bids can enter the championship.
If successful, then it’s believed that Andretti will join the championship in 2026, when the new engine regulations are introduced.
For the time being, the prospective team have been working in Banbury, UK, where their Formula E side is currently based.
It’s from Formula E where Andretti have signed their first technical director, with Nick Chester having signed for the Americans, according to his LinkedIn page.
On his LinkedIn page, Chester has it titled that he’s signed for a “Top Tier Motorsport Team”, with the Brit having supposedly started in March.
Chester is incredibly experienced and has most recently worked for Mercedes and McLaren in Formula E, with him having departed the Woking-based side in February.
In Formula 1, he boasts almost 30 years of experience, having worked for Arrows, Renault and Lotus.
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Chester worked for Renault as their head of vehicle performance group, when Fernando Alonso claimed his two world titles in 2005 and 2006.
He left the Enstone-based side in 2020 before switching to Formula E.
He does have experience of being a technical director, with it being the role he held at Lotus and at Renault from 2016.