Michael Andretti’s decision to step down from running his race team on a day-to-day basis will have no immediate bearing on its bid to join the Formula 1 grid.

Autosport has learned that Andretti’s Silverstone factory continues to recruit staff in a bid to have a full 2026 chassis ready before the New Year.

Former F1 and IndyCar driver Andretti has built one of the most successful motorsport teams across the world and is currently competing in multiple championships.

But he has failed in bids for his team to race in F1 by first failing to acquire Sauber before seeing his plans for an 11th team halted by F1.

Andretti’s application had initially received the green light from the FIA in October 2023 before the governing body performed a u-turn on its decision along with a rejection from Formula One Management in January this year,  rather brutally saying it believed the team would not be competitive or add value to the championship.

The news was a blow to Andretti, which had formed a new F1 base at Silverstone with a view of competing in F1 from the 2025 season onwards.

Confusingly, despite having a remit to grow the sport, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who had previously led calls for more teams on the grid, recently urged Andretti and its partners, General Motors in the form of its Cadillac brand, to “go and buy another team, not to come as the 11th team”.

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz / Motorsport Images

After Andretti’s shock departure, insiders say this is not as a consequence of the failed bid to enter F1 and that plans are still going ahead in the hope of getting the approval to race in 2026.

In a bid to ensure the team is ready should it be granted permission to join the F1 grid, the Andretti operation is still operating as usual.

The team has been growing at an average of 7 new starters every week and now totals over 260 full-time people working on the project

Furthermore, the team is working 16-hour days in the wind tunnel in Cologne, as it is not yet bound by F1 testing restrictions and is developing parts such as nose cones and wishbones that have been crash-tested at the FIA-approved F1 crash testing facility at Cranfield.

The team is also working on suspension and braking systems and roll hoop constructions for the 2026 regulations.

In another huge step, the team hopes to have its first chassis out of the mould before January – well in advance of some of their rivals.

Andretti is now hoping for both the FIA and FOM to revise the decision to prevent them from joining F1 as an 11th team.

In stepping back, what Andretti has done is remove himself from the equation, having drawn particular heat from F1 and rival team bosses.

By handing the operation over to Dan Towriss, the new-look team could look to speed up the process to become a GM works team with its own engine from 2028, something that F1 had stipulated in its rejection letter.

What now remains to be seen is if the new ownership – without Andretti at the helm – or indeed the Andretti name at all – go back to FOM with a second attempt at making the cut.

Surely nobody is naive enough to believe that sport and politics are not interlinked, especially when it comes to motorsport. Multiple categories now benefit from races or championships that are paid for by governments or regimes.

It could be argued that Formula 1 has always been inexplicably linked to politics, by virtue of its association with promoters or brands as it blends sport, entertainment and business.


For the majority, the issue of politics usually surfaces when drivers are asked about competing in countries that have questionable records on human rights. That level of questioning does not usually extend to European or North American races.
However, that could be set to change with two F1 races in short succession in the United States either side of the presidential elections.


The US Grand Prix in Austin will be held on Sunday 20 October, with the Las Vegas Grand Prix set for Saturday 23 November. The election will be held on Tuesday 5 November.
When F1 rolls into Texas, there is the potential for it to become politicised, with drivers quizzed as to their opinions on the outcome of the upcoming elections.


While there are currently no American drivers on the gird, their opinions still hold sway. This is because politicians exploit elements of popular culture, be it music or sport.


We have seen in the past how an artist like musician Taylor Swift can have a significant outcome on the vote. Swift’s support for the Democrats has been widely acknowledged as a contributing factor to the party’s success in 2020. Earlier this year, The New York Times identified that Joe Biden’s now abandoned re-election campaign had Swift’s backing as its “biggest and most influential endorsement target”.

An election after all, is a popularity contest. If you have the support of global icon, say a Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso or Lando Norris, then it is another huge benefit.


Harris has identified Hamilton as her favourite F1 driver – could others get dragged into the conversation?

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

It could be argued this is nothing new, for F1 has raced in the US before and it has not strayed into the political discussions. However, all that has changed in recent years, most notably with the world championship having US owners in the form of Liberty Media.


Furthermore F1 is now in vogue in the US, thanks mainly to the Netflix show Drive To Survive. It is now hugely popular and offers the chance for an international perspective on the race for the White House, rather than the opinions of American athletes competing in their respective sports.

We have already seen the political association with F1 this year. The Democrats candidate, current vice president Kamala Harris, said in a recent interview she was a big F1 fan and revealed she watches races with her family.

“It’s so good, we love it, our whole family does,” she said on a Howard Stern broadcast. “Actually, I haven’t been able to watch it recently because I am campaigning, also depending on where they are driving, the time of day, you have to wake up.”


Furthermore, Harris was able to identify her favourite driver: “Lewis Hamilton, of course”. Then followed her knowledge that “he’s leaving Mercedes” before concluding her F1 monologue with “once you start… you should see it, you might get hooked”.


Of course, there is nothing wrong with Harris being an F1 fan or indeed a Hamilton fan. However, it does forge a link between the sport and politics.


Earlier this year at the Miami Grand Prix, I watched as Republican candidate Donald Trump was emphatically cheered on the grid by the majority of the crowd. It was striking and mesmerising in equal measure.

The former President was a guest of McLaren and shown around the team’s garage. Trump later told Norris he was his “lucky charm” following the Brit’s maiden F1 win.


The upcoming election is sure to be a topic at the US Grand Prix

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Trump’s presence however, sparked a backlash on social media. McLaren responded with a statement saying that it was “a non-political organisation”, however it “recognised and respects the office of President of the United States so when the request was made to visit our garage on race day we accepted alongside the president of the FIA and the CEO’s of Liberty Media and Formula 1”.


And that’s the point. For while McLaren were not wishing to show any political allegiance, it had inadvertently been dragged into supporting Trump, prompting the requirement for a clarifying statement.


Now, F1’s drivers could be faced with the same situation – and potential consequence – whether they like it or not when they are grilled by the media on the upcoming elections.