As beforehand reported by Motorsport.com, Symonds was set to depart his place as F1’s chief technical officer after seven years within the job, taking part in a vital function in contributing to F1’s technical rules for 2022 and 2026.
With the chassis guidelines for 2026 all however finalised, Symonds determined to depart the organisation as had lengthy been into consideration.
It has now emerged that Andretti World is Symonds’s subsequent vacation spot, with Michael Andretti’s organisation hiring the 70-year-old as an Govt Engineering Guide.
He’ll work from the crew’s just lately opened UK base in Silverstone following a gardening go away interval.
“We could not be extra excited to welcome Pat to the Andretti household,” stated Andretti. “Pat’s eager understanding of aerodynamics, car dynamics and Components 1 energy models might be instrumental as we proceed to construct a aggressive crew.
“I imagine his experience has been pivotal in shaping the narrative of Components 1 and his vote of confidence in becoming a member of our effort speaks volumes. I am actually proud of this subsequent step as our work continues at tempo.”
At Andretti Symonds re-joins former Benetton and Renault colleague Nick Chester, who heads up the engineering crew as Andretti Cadillac’s technical director.
“I’ve had the pleasure to work with Pat prior to now and he has a wealth of information we will draw upon,” stated Chester.
Michael Andretti
Picture by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Pictures
“Pat will deliver experience throughout technical areas and crew operations in his function as Govt Engineering Guide that can assist us develop the crew.”
Touchdown Symonds is one other string to Andretti’s bow because the American racing powerhouse aggressively pursues an F1 entry with GM model Cadillac.
Whereas it was denied entry for 2026, it has not taken no for a solution and continued its preparation, opening the Silverstone headquarters and beginning a recruitment drive, with Symonds now rising as the primary main coup.
F1 has left the door open for a brand new try in 2028 with bespoke GM energy models.
Symonds was an integral a part of the Benetton crew that took championships with Michael Schumacher within the mid-90s.
He stayed with the crew by its Renault guise till leaving within the wake of the 2008 Singapore Crashgate scandal, earlier than returning to the sequence as a marketing consultant for Virgin. He then turned CTO at Williams and joined the F1 organisation in 2017.
F1’s refusal to simply accept Andretti’s bid to hitch as an eleventh crew has ruffled some feathers within the States.
Final month Mario Andretti made an look on Capitol Hill as a number of Congress members wrote to F1 and its American proprietor Liberty Media to demand solutions on why Andretti’s bid was rejected, invoking antitrust legal guidelines.
It has since emerged that a number of senators have requested the Division of Justice and the Federal Commerce Fee to start a proper investigation.
The Home’s Judiciary Committee has already launched its personal probe into the matter.