How Andretti is planning for life after BMW

BMW dropped the bombshell it would quit Formula E at the end of the 2021 campaign only a day after its star driver Maximilian Guenther had topped the closest pre-season test seen in the series. When the headlines could have been about 24 cars being split by just 0.761 seconds, instead they sharply switched to the sudden health hit FE had sustained.

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This time around, the timing of BMW's announcement that it will continue to supply the ever-present FE Andretti race team with a powertrain next term - an unsurprising path of least resistance - is not about creating a further distraction, coming on the day of the first race new of the season.

Instead, it's about removing a distraction for the manufacturer. It's answered a question concerning Andretti's future so both parties can keep the attention on BMW's latest attempt to bow out of an aborted motorsport programme on a high.

Andretti team principal Roger Griffiths explained to Autosport how his team is building to stabilise and then ultimately boost its competitiveness in the seasons that follow the divorce from its German partner.

Powertrain continuity advised

Andretti has always held the licence for its entry to compete in FE, not BMW. The team immediately confirmed to Autosport in December that it wanted to remain in the series beyond BMW's tenure, and so it's ongoing participation has never been in question.

With its experience of FE, Andretti has learned not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Ahead of the second season, the team took advantage of the opening up of the powertrain technology to develop its own system. But poor reliability meant it completed just 16 unrepresentative laps of Donington Park over five days of 2015-16 pre-season testing, and so for the final runout it dispensed with its own set-up and slotted in the standard Renault design used by all cars in the inaugural season. Robin Frijns and Simona de Silvestro promptly posted 68 laps.

That put plans for a bespoke Andretti powertrain on ice until the following season, but two years running under its own steam merited seventh and then last in the subsequent standings.

"Whoever you're ultimately with will have a very mature level of software. I'm confident that even if it stayed at the same level as we finish this season it's not going to be a big disadvantage" Roger Griffiths

So, after what will be three seasons of full BMW battery backing, with four race wins achieved so far, reverting to building its own powertrain was never on the cards. Hence, in part, why running as an effective customer team for a stop-gap campaign - rather than trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat in record time and build a fresh system - offered a satisfactory temporary fix.

All the FE cars are fixed in their power outputs, meaning the technology race lies with the software and how efficiently you deploy the energy. But Griffiths is assured his team won't need to be blessed with regular factory updates to stay at the sharp end.

"Ongoing development is always good," he says. "But there's also a lot that can be done with optimising what you have today as well. Yes, it would be nice if the software was evolved during the course of the season. But will that really make a huge difference?

"By the time we get to the end of this season, whoever you're ultimately with will have a very mature level of software. I'm confident that even if we stayed at the same level as we finish this season it's not going to be a big disadvantage if that's where it is at the end of next season as well."

The team of engineers will also need a bit of a makeover for the transition into the 2021-22 season that comes sans BMW. A restructure is required because BMW has not only provided the powertrain but also a number of personnel in the garage. Those roles will need to be filled.

Driver merry-go-round

BMW's exit had the potential to leave a powertrain-shaped hole underneath the engine cover, but that's been filled for the time being. As it stands, however, the Bavarian goodbye will leave spaces where Maximilian Guenther and Jake Dennis currently sit.

Both two-time race winner Guenther and new recruit Dennis are contracted to BMW, not to Andretti. Griffiths' team was involved in the data analysis of the private shootout that decided Dennis - over BMW DTM drivers Philipp Eng, Marco Wittmann and Lucas Auer - would occupy the vacancy created by Alexander Sims' leaving for Mahindra Racing. However, it was the manufacturer that had the final word.

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Griffiths reports that the process to find a driver pairing for next season is underway, but the team isn't in a "massive rush". Keeping hold of Guenther is the smart money move. The 23-year-old, who made his FE debut with Dragon in 2018, remains the championship's youngest driver, is embedded within the team and has proved blisteringly quick and composed on his day.

His standout move in the championship came in Marrakech last year. After Jean-Eric Vergne had pushed him right up against the pitwall in their battle for second place, Guenther sold the double champion a perfect dummy on the final lap.

Now established and settled in FE, it's tough to see where BMW could sufficiently rehome the one-time Formula 2 race winner to reward his recent efforts. Sticking in FE, and at Andretti, works for both camps.

"First and foremost was to make sure that we had a powertrain supplier, and we've got that sorted," Griffiths says. "With the driver situation, we're very open minded. We know Max very well. Certainly, one option would be to continue with Max."

For Dennis, it's less clear. That's why he's been open about his need to nail this rookie season to put himself in the shop window to seduce Andretti or another team to remain in FE.

"We don't know Jake so well; we need to see how he gets on," Griffiths adds. "Obviously, if he's doing well, and he integrates well into the team and if everything's looking rosy from that perspective, then certainly he's somebody that we'd want to talk to."

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But for that second seat chiefly, Andretti has a big talent pool to dive into. It could turn to an established star, with 2016-17 champion Lucas di Grassi keen to cement his future in FE after Audi heads for the stage door.

"We've seen what [Di Grassi] can do behind the wheel. I'm sure there will be a conversation with him at some point. It'd be remiss of us not to talk to him" Roger Griffiths

"I have a lot of respect [for Lucas]," says Griffiths. "He's a very talented driver, he's a proven race winner in here. He's also got a great work ethic, and he is somebody that can really develop a car.

"It's got to be the right fit for the team as well. It's got to be somebody that integrates well, who becomes a positive rather than a disrupter.

"I've never worked with Lucas. I don't know what he's like but obviously, we've seen what he can do behind the wheel. I'm sure there will be a conversation with him at some point. It'd be remiss of us not to talk to him."

But Andretti's reach stretches well beyond FE, thanks to its long-standing IndyCar team. It also operates in Indy Lights, in the LMP3 ranks of the IMSA Prototype Challenge and with Zak Brown's United Autosports outfit in Extreme E and Australian Supercars. Clearly, a single-seater driver would best meet the demands of a prospective FE racer.

"At this point, there's no preconceived ideas about who we would have in the team," says Griffiths. "It's all well and good having conversations with some of the stars in this paddock, but ultimately, you've got to be able to pay for it. We're quite lucky with our IndyCar operations that we have visibility on a lot of drivers."

What Griffiths does essentially rule out is wading into battle with two entirely fresh-faced drivers, adding: "It would be highly unlikely that we would have two rookies. Highly unlikely. We could deal with one rookie driver, but certainly, we would need an experienced team member. At a minimum one experienced team member, ideally two."

Opportunities for Gen3

Formula E is billed as a 'forward-thinking' championship, primarily on the grounds of its all-electric technology. Similarly, Andretti is operating with a longer term view to consolidate for the Gen3 regulations coming in 2022-23 now it has agreed a powertrain deal.

As a team, rather than a manufacturer, it doesn't have to sign up to the new rules cycle by 31 March this year. It can delay its formal commitment to the future of the championship for the better part of 16 months. But the party line is that affirming its intentions is better done sooner rather than later as that offers more time to plan.

Andretti has ruled out ("it's never going to happen") returning to building its own powertrain even in the long-term. It's not going to throw its hat back into that ring.

Griffiths explains: "We've done that in the past and everything has moved on since then. We, as a relatively modest organisation, don't have the resources to tackle a new powertrain."

Option two is to switch to another supplier but settle as a customer team. Thanks to the revised model presented by the FIA for Gen3, customers will be guaranteed both the same hardware and software as their donors for every race. Also, should the manufacturer team quit during the rules cycle, it has to continue providing a powertrain until the end of Gen3 in 2025-26.

"That's all well and good," says Griffiths of a customer set-up, but he still has questions over how that would suit his team. "Would it be much better? Is this a genuine collaboration which involves the works team and you as a customer team? How can we jointly work together?"

That's why the favoured route for Andretti is clear: realign with a new OEM partner. And there's one tie-up, which as has been pointed out from all corners, that's plainly obvious. McLaren Racing has signed an agreement with FE that guarantees it an option to enter the championship for Gen3. As an aside, the recently unveiled hybrid McLaren Artura would be an apt replacement for the long-serving BMW i8 safety car.

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Andretti has well-established ties to McLaren Racing chief executive officer Zak Brown. His United Autosports squad is joined at the hip to Andretti with a shared entry in Extreme E and Walkinshaw Andretti United, which runs drivers Chaz Mostert and Bryce Fullwood in Australian Supercars. But as pally as Brown and Michael Andretti might be, any awaiting collaboration in FE will have to satisfy stricter criteria from the Woking boardroom.

"It's not any kind of foregone conclusion that we would be aligned with McLaren Racing going forward. We have to earn that right" Roger Griffiths

"There's a difference there," says Griffiths of a pending partnership. "For sure, we know Zak. He's going stir crazy in his hotel room [in Saudi Arabia this week, to meet FE bosses].

"The thing to remember is in Extreme E and in Australian Supercars, we're actually in partnership with United Autosport. As it relates to McLaren and Formula E, it's a little different.

"With United Autosport, between Richard Dean and Zak, they make the decisions, they don't have anybody else to answer to, so they can decide how they want to move forward. With McLaren, Zak makes a recommendation to the board of directors. They probably will go along with whatever Zak's recommendation is. But he's going to have to justify his reasons for going with Andretti.

"You can't just say 'I'm going with him because I'm partners within another formula'. He needs to show categorically that we are the right team to go with as opposed to somebody else. It's not any kind of foregone conclusion that we would be aligned with McLaren Racing going forward. We have to earn that right. In my view, we have to demonstrate that we are the best option."

Although a McLaren-Andretti FE does have to face up to tougher due diligence than a United-Andretti deal might, Griffiths is extremely far from ruling out a Papaya partnership.