Formula E

Will Andretti's huge shake-up hurt or boost its last title winner?

by Sam Smith
4 min read

On paper there will be no major aftershocks for Andretti's Formula E arm from the dramatic and far-reaching changes to the parent company's structure that came at the end of 2024 as the group's founder Michael Andretti stepped back from day-to-day responsibilities.

But there are also hints that the Formula E team would actually like its place in the Andretti hierarchy to be a little different now.

The Andretti name has been an ever-present in Formula E as it was one of the founding teams and has taken one world championship with Jake Dennis in 2023 and 11 E-Prix victories. Beyond that though it always had the implicit support of Michael Andretti who regularly turned up to races, and when he couldn't his confidante and right-hand man JF Thormann would.

That now will change, although don't be surprised if you see an Andretti parked up in the Monaco harbour in May.

But while Andretti's ever-present team principal Roger Griffiths continues to provide continuity within the team amid the tumult of Andretti's primary financial investor Dan Towriss taking control of its empire, it does feel that a similar level of on the ground support wouldn't go amiss in 2025.

Towriss is the CEO of the Group 1001 financial services behemoth, based in Indiana. He's only been involved in motorsport since 2018 but in that time has seen his and his company's wealth skyrocket.

This has expanded horizons into Formula 1, which is all but certain to happen with GM for 2026 after a soap opera of a period in which F1, its existing teams and the FIA opposed and backed the bid respectively.

In his valedictory statement last autumn when the seismic shift in Andretti's structure was made public, Michael Andretti stated that his time at the coalface ending "isn't a goodbye, it is just the turning of a page".

Almost looking on from afar was the Andretti Formula E team. It feels like more autonomy could be in the offing, but as Griffiths told The Race last week there will be "no significant changes to the programme in terms of its make-up and how it reports into the rest of Andretti".

Under the umbrella of the TWG Motorsports Group, the Formula E team joins Andretti's IndyCar squad, IMSA SportsCar Championship team Wayne Taylor Racing and the Spire Motorsports NASCAR stable, among others. While Andretti's IndyCar and Indianapolis 500 success has always been its headline achievement, Dennis's 2023 Formula E title is only world championship for the Andretti organisation and its most recent in any series. It hasn't won an IndyCar championship since 2012 or an Indy 500 since 2017.

Griffiths said that he hoped the Formula E team would "gather a little bit more prominence than in the past".

"Andretti's obviously been very much an IndyCar-orientated organisation for historical reasons but from my personal perspective I'd like to hope that we can see more of our leadership at Formula E events," he added.

"It would be nice for them to experience a racing series where we won a world championship. I think that would be a great opportunity for them to see how Andretti's represented on the international stage as opposed to on the domestic stage.

"Before we were reasonably contained to IndyCar, Formula E and the sportscar racing programme. Now if we look across the more global portfolio of the programmes, we're much wider now, with the likelihood of the Formula 1 entry being signed off.

"That's going to take a lot of precedence and then, with the sportscar programme expanding to two cars, NASCAR activities as well, there's a lot going on. I think it would be good if we could have more exposure on the Formula E side."

That sounds like something close to a pre-emptive strike to ensure the Formula E strand of the business can continue to contribute noise on a commercial and marketing level too, as well as a sporting one.

"In terms of day-to-day operations and things like that, there's little change, and that mean there's really a lot of the same people involved, to be honest," added Griffiths.

"Unfortunately, Michael's no longer with us. JF has stepped into a different role, really focusing on driver development.

"They were two people who had an input into the Formula E programme. Now, on the Formula E side of things, maybe a little more standalone, which, could be a positive thing.

"But so far it hasn't impacted our day-to-day operations in any way, shape, or form. It's different, maybe a couple of different faces on some meetings, but nothing beyond that.

"Formula E is kind of part and parcel of our DNA now and we're fully committed. We have a long-term agreement with Formula E itself. We really like the championship. We really like the current leadership within Formula E, and we think they're on a good trajectory to grow the sport."

Andretti is an important part of Formula E and it feels like it's in it for the next decade too. Perhaps the key now is how it can not only grow itself beyond being arguably the top customer team but also become more of a conduit too for Formula E's expansion in the US, something the series is struggling to achieve right now.

Michael Andretti is taking it a little slower these days, and the extent of his consultancy role at his former charge is not precisely known.

That's something CEO Jeff Dodds and Formula E should be monitoring very closely right now.

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