Andretti has signed Formula 1's now-former chief technical officer Pat Symonds as part of its ongoing bid to get onto the F1 grid.

The 70-year-old Symonds will join the project upon the completion of his gardening leave, the length of which has not been disclosed, and has been named Andretti's executive engineering consultant.

A former tech chief at the likes of Benetton, Renault and Williams, Symonds - who was banned from F1 as a consequence of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix 'Crashgate' scandal but then had said ban overturned - had been part of F1's tech team since 2017.

His signing is a curious one for an Andretti team that does not have F1's blessing to enter.

F1 formally rejected the Andretti bid in January, releasing a statement in which the commercial rights holder, having conducted an in-depth assessment, said Andretti had not proven it would add enough value to offset what its addition would cost the existing 10 teams nor had it proven it would be competitive.

This was despite Andretti having received approval from F1's governing body the FIA.

Andretti - which is partnered with General Motors, specifically its Cadillac brand, and has announced it would run bespoke Cadillac power units from 2028 onwards (but wants to enter in 2026 as a customer first) - has continued to publicly advance and expand its programme despite F1's rejection.

In addition to that, it has also been lobbying the Congress of its native United States.

A letter sent to F1 and its owner Liberty from the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has now benn followed up, according to American media, by a bipartisan group of senators seeking to raise the matter with the Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission.