Andretti Global has hired the man behind Formula 1’s 2026 technical regulations as an engineering consultant as it bids to enter the series.
Pat Symonds, who developed cars which took Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso to world championships, will join Andretti after completing a period of gardening leave.Andretti’s bid to enter F1 in 2026 was approved by the FIA in October last year but rejected by Formula One Management in January. One of the reasons the championship gave for refusing to admit Andretti was that it did “not believe that the applicant would be a competitive participant.”
Symonds’ reputation as an engineer, plus his years spent devising the current and upcoming technical regulations, underlined Andretti’s claim to be serious about being a competitive entrant.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Pat to the Andretti family,” said Andretti Global chairman and CEO Michael Andretti. “Pat’s keen understanding of aerodynamics, vehicle dynamics and Formula 1 power units will be instrumental as we continue to build a competitive team.
“I believe his expertise has been pivotal in shaping the narrative of Formula 1 and his vote of confidence in joining our effort speaks volumes. I’m really happy with this next step as our work continues at pace.”
Symonds will join Andretti’s growing team at its new Silverstone base once he is free to join them. He will be reunited with Nick Chester, Andretti’s technical director, whom he worked with during his long stint at the team known as Benetton and Renault, which now competes as Alpine.
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“I have had the pleasure to work with Pat in the past and he has a wealth of knowledge we can draw upon,” said Chester. “Pat will bring expertise across technical areas and team operations in his role as executive engineering consultant that will help us develop the team.”
Symonds, 70, arrived in F1 with the Toleman team when it entered the series in 1981, and remained there for almost three decades. During that time it won races and championships as Benetton and Renault. However Symonds left in disgrace in 2009 after the FIA ruled he was involved in the Crashgate conspiracy which won the team the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
He returned to F1 in 2011 with the Marussia team. There he worked with Graeme Lowden who has since joined Andretti (pictured above with Symonds). Two years later he moved to Williams, where he stayed until the end of 2016.
He later took up a role at Formula One Management, devising a radical overhaul of the series’ technical regulations which was introduced in 2022. He has since worked on the next rules set, due for introduction in 2026, when F1 will change its power unit formula for the first time since 2014.
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roger norman
21st May 2024, 17:40
“Not believe that the applicant would be a competitive participant.”
Mr Domenicali, you only have yourself to blame. The FIA drew you a map, and apparently, you can’t read maps.
JackL
21st May 2024, 20:21
Compared to Alpine (too slow), Williams (over weight), and Sauber (cant change a wheel), they’re bound to be more competitive.
But I dont understand this hiring. If the FIA said yes, and FOM said no, whats the next step? How are they proceeding as if they have an entry?
Miane
21st May 2024, 22:47
If they don’t get into a commercial agreement with Liberty it’s likely that the case will be decided in the court.
Mayrton
21st May 2024, 18:30
Well, moreover he drafted (or at minimum co worked/consulted on) the upcoming 2026 technical regulations. Now that’s what I call a (-n unfair?) competitive advantage!
The Dolphins
21st May 2024, 18:44
Not necessarily, by that logic lawmakers would make the best criminals and that’s not (necessarily) true. I believe if Pat was joining an existing team with an established workforce and processes he may be more valuable in an advisory role. Regardless, Pat brings a wealth of experience in the sport and is a good hire for a team trying to ramp up.
Riccard
21st May 2024, 18:45
Indeed. Next year’s attack lines write themselves… “Andretti can’t join Formula One because it would have an unfair advantage over the established European manufacturer teams.”
“Plus, who’s heard of Andretti? Visa Cash App, now there’s a famous name in motorsport.”
SteveP
21st May 2024, 19:37
Anyone know what regulatory body examines all the designs from the teams to ensure compliance, and therefore knows the IP of every team?
Hopefully not the body that Pat has been working for.
anon
21st May 2024, 20:39
SteveP, that would probably be the FIA’s single seater department, so Jan Monchaux would probably be the one with the most access to the IP of individual teams.
That said, Symonds’s role as CTO of FOM would mean that, apart from being the individual who led the drafting process for the 2026 regulation package, he would also have been responsible for directing the wind tunnel testing that has been used to develop the 2026 regulations and would have had full access to all of the data arising from those tests.
Now, it is worth bearing in mind that the FIA has still not yet published the final regulations governing the chassis design for 2026 (it seems that they have only circulated extracts of the regulations to the teams through their technical working groups). Furthermore, the teams are currently all banned by the FIA from undertaking any aerodynamic research or testing for a 2026 spec car until the 2nd January 2025.
However, as there is no agreement in place yet between Andretti and FOM, Andretti is currently not bound by any of those restrictions on testing or research and development. That is part of the reason why it seems Symonds is having to take a period of gardening leave – whilst Riccard might have intended his comment of “Andretti can’t join Formula One because it would have an unfair advantage over the established European manufacturer teams.” to be flippant, that complaint would have some validity given Symonds’s involvement in the testing supporting the 2026 regulations and the ban on other teams being able to do their own testing until 2025.
roger norman
21st May 2024, 19:20
Will, at least Stefano Domenicali can’t make the claim that Andretti/Cadillac isn’t hiring good people, although he’ll probably try.
Mog
21st May 2024, 21:17
I wonder how Andretti is so confident they will get a place at the table of the F1 cartel. Are they looking to to exploit American law to force the hand of an American owned company?
M2X
22nd May 2024, 0:12
Yes. 7 US senators have sent a letter to the DoJ to investigate alleged collusion from the FOM.
That the refusal for Andretti to join, especially with the non-argument of competitiveness, could be a violation of US anti-trust laws.
It’s going to be a messy PR affair for LM and FOM.
grat
22nd May 2024, 3:51
I doubt it. Would take years, by which time the dilution fee will have been raised to 1 beeeelyon dollars, which is why FOM doesn’t want Andretti in… yet.
Andretti signed on Symonds as a consultant– someone who can advise them where the bodies are buried, which wheels can be greased, and what FOM / Liberty is really thinking.
roger norman
22nd May 2024, 14:36
Bingo!
Nick T.
21st May 2024, 23:42
Too bad Williams or Aston didn’t get him.
PT (@pt)
22nd May 2024, 8:50
Andretti just doesn’t take “no” for an answer, whether it is garnering the support of top American politicians, building state-of-the-art facilities or hiring the best in the business. This is a strong statement to Liberty of F1 team owners, particularly Toto Wolff – “You can’t bully us with your cartel type behaviour.
MichaelN
22nd May 2024, 9:15
Why is this a coup, though? He hasn’t been at a competitive team since being dropped by Renault in the wake of the Singapore scandal. And he hasn’t been actively involved in a team since leaving Williams almost eight years ago.
This sounds like Andretti is hiring a ‘known name’ to lend some credibility to their outfit. To be clear, it’d be fun to see them on the grid, but it seems they have more pressing concerns, like not having an engine.
S
22nd May 2024, 10:52
But they do – two of them, in fact. One built especially for them in 2028, and one supplied by Renault in the interim.
Even without making use of F1’s engine supply rule, Renault do actually want to supply to a customer.
Lucas
22nd May 2024, 12:37
It’s significant because he is a FOM defector
SteveP
22nd May 2024, 19:52
No, it’s significant because he can talk directly, and repeatedly, to Andretti snr & junior to explain that the car will move much better if it actually has the GM PU.
Part of the explanation would be that scheduling the entry to match the timing of the GM PU availability is a better idea than forcing onto the grid with no PU and expecting a competitor to provide one because they sort of forgot about making the car move under its own power.
Even a US senator could understand that logic.
VIETVET
23rd May 2024, 22:42
Well, if Adrian Newey goes there, too (and wouldn’t that be delicious), then I believe it’s safe to conclude that Andretti knows something F1’s future that no one is admitting.