Andretti has signed its contracts with its new Gen4 manufacturer and is ready to start detailed preparations for its fourth rules set in the all-electric world championship.
Formula E Notebook understands that it will shortly attend a test with its new car’s provider for Gen4 and that work will begin in earnest for a seamless bedding in period ahead of the pre-season test at Jarama in November
While the details of the new alliance have not been revealed publicly, it was reported by The Race earlier this year that Andretti and Nissan will form a partnership for the Gen4 rules set beginning at the end of this year.
Speaking to FEN at Berlin earlier this month, Andretti team principal Roger Griffiths said that a new partnership for Gen4 would see “two aspects of it, there’s where you’re at with your manufacturer of choice and where you’re at with the FIA suppliers.”
That’s because, according to Griffiths the information between manufacturer and customer “won’t start to flow until contracts have been signed, confidentiality agreements are in place, etc. We’re working our way through the single supplier agreements with Spark, Podium, Bridgestone, etc.
“These are all in a good position and we’re starting to see information coming in from them because there’s going to be a huge mountain of work to do. We’ve still got the balance of this season to finish off and everybody’s going to try and be as competitive as possible.
“Then almost the Monday morning after London, we’ve got to be switching off the Gen3 car and switching over to Gen4 and simulators have got to be converted over to run the new package. If you’re switching manufacturers, then there’s a massive amount of work to do in developing new relationships, in understanding the new technology, so there’s a lot got to happen. We’re starting to see that happen.”
Should Andretti confirm Nissan as its partner, it will mean that the team has worked with three significantly large OEMs since the Gen2 era officially, although its actual practical partnership with BMW began earlier in the Gen1 era.
After the BMW years, which include one season in 2021-22 running with the BMW powertrain but after the Bavarian marque withdrew from Formula E, the U.S entered team embarked on a four-season programme with Porsche. That brought a 2023 title for Jake Dennis and a total of four EPrix wins, all for Dennis to date.
On speaking about the relationship with Porsche, which was officially give notice of a separation this week, Griffiths said that “as far as our own personal situation, we want to do things in the right way, as we have a lot of respect for our current partner and we’ve shared a lot of success together.
“I think it’s well known that we’ve had our challenges and we are moving on, but we want to do it in the right way. That’s really important for me, personally. This paddock and other motorsport paddocks are very intimate places, and you never know what might happen at some point down the road, so we don’t want to upset anybody or burn any bridges on the way out in our excitement to move on to the next thing. We just want to do it in the right manner.”
Why Andretti still believes in customer model
A fair and equitable road ahead for customers of manufacturers is a delicate balance for Formula E right now with indications in recent seasons pointing to it having moved on to a place where it’s unrealistic, if you’re not a car manufacturer, to think success in the championship as an independent team, without the express support of a manufacturer, is a non-starter.
Griffiths broadly agrees with this synopsis, saying that “the requirement for Gen4, because of the increased manufacturer involvement, the increased complexity of the car, means that you need a really strong working relationship, a very open working relationship.
“It needs to be, I won’t say 100% unfiltered access to everything, but it needs to be very open for everybody to get the most from it.
“We believe we’ve made the right decision (for Gen4). So far, the conversations we’ve had have been very productive and very open. Both sides are super excited to be working with each other. That’s the best start I could ask for.”
