Andretti to take another huge step as F1 target date revealed
Andretti are pushing on with their F1 preparations.
Andretti will take another step forward in their journey to F1 as they test their own 2023 spec car in the wind tunnel.
The prospective American team are in limbo having passed the FIA’s Expression of Interest but are now waiting for FOM’s decision as to whether they can join the grid.
But even if they do not yet have the green light, Andretti are continuing with their preparations and will conduct a wind tunnel test next week.
Andretti to borrow Toyota wind tunnel for F1 preparations
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Michael Andretti confirmed they have a 2023 spec car built and will test it for the first time next week.
“At the moment, we’re still shooting for ’25,” he said. “Our car is actually going to be in a wind tunnel next week. We have a car already built up to ’23 specs so we’re flat out, we’re building a team. At the moment it’s ’25, could be ’26 but we’ll see.”
They will use Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne which was recently vacated by McLaren who unveiled a refurbished wind tunnel at their Woking base.
The move would be a significant step forward for a team still unsure if they will ever get onto the grid but Michael Andretti has stated their target is to be in the sport by 2025.
The team boss is in the F1 paddock for this weekend’s race in Austin and was pictured talking to Red Bull chief Christian Horner.
The building of the car comes after Andretti expanded their Indiana base to include a new 575,000 square-foot facility for “future racing initiatives” in August last year.
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The family have been relatively quiet since the FIA’s decision but their detractors have been more than vocal, most notably Williams’ James Vowles.
The former Mercedes employee argued that Andretti’s selling point of being an all-American team is not enough to dilute any potential loss of profit.
“If you’re bringing in new elements to things, you can certainly show how you’re going to grow within America,” Vowles said to Sky Sports F1.
“We’ve got an American team: Haas. How does a second American team help us? We’ve got three American races. How does an American team help that?
“There are ways of doing it. But as of yet, that’s still what we’re waiting for.”
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