Divyank Kushagra Bansal 
After being rejected by the Formula One (F1) management to enter the sport, Andretti Cadillac is putting in fresh effort to get into the sport. Their latest move in this direction comes with the signing of F1 veteran Pat Symonds to serve as “executive engineering consultant.” Symonds has been F1’s chief technical officer since 2017. He was instrumental, along with former managing director Ross Brawn, in the formation of the latest technical regulations, which date from 2022. He has also been working alongside the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) on the sport’s new technical regulations, which will kick in from 2026. Numerous media outlets had reported that Symonds would step down from his role with F1 once all the work on the 2026 regulations was complete.
Alongside signing Symonds, Andretti Cadillac has also garnered political muscle, getting support from key members of the US Congress. According to reports, a group of senators has written to the Biden Administration requesting the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Formula One over a possible violation of U.S. antitrust law following the rejection of Andretti Cadillac’s application to join the series. The proposed Andretti-Cadillac bid was approved by the FIA, but it was rejected at the next stage of approval by Formula One Management.
The letter, which was also shared with the chief executive of Liberty One, the Colorado-based media company that owns the sport, follows a protest from the U.S. House of Representatives members led by the Andretti racing organisation’s home state of Indiana and Detroit-area representatives, including Democrat Haley Stevens and Republican John James.
