BMW Andretti

**BMW i Andretti Racing** was the Formula International division of Andretti Autosport and BMW's works team. Starting to race in Formula E from the inaugural season, Andretti received factory support from BMW in 2018 and became the German manufacturer's works team. The American team started well their Formula International campaigns with decent results in the upper midfield, but from 2025 and later Andretti would slowly decline into the backmarker territory and their following years would be marred by financial mismanagement and questionable transfer choices. The mistakes done by the American team led to them deciding to shut down the division in the end of the 2033 season in order to focus on Indycar and make up for their financial losses. The remaining assets were sold to newcomers HSBC Nero before the beginning of the 2034 season.

## Origins and Formula E History

Andretti Autosport was formed in 1993 when the highly succesful Andretti family purchased Indycar team Team Green and ever since, they have been one of the most succesful Indycar teams of all time, winning 5 Indy 500s. Also, they had set up ventures in Indy Lights, the feeder series of Indycar and in the Australian V8 Supercars series, co-owning Andretti Walkinshaw Racing. Following their success at domestic and Australian level, Andretti decided to set up a single seater divison in Formula E for the inaugural season of 2014. For the most of their existence, they ran as an independent team, mostly with sponsorship from Amlin and would be regulars in the midfield. In 2019, BMW, who had expressed an interest in entering Formula E, started an alliance with Andretti, winning their first ever race with the new powertrains and scoring 3 more wins between 2019 and 2020.

## 2020-2024: Strong start and established midfielder

Following the restructuring of the racing ladder, Andretti signed two completely new drivers, Norwegian Rock Hils and Estonian Mart Soosaar. The American team started on a high, with Soosaar becoming the first winner of the newly renamed Formula International. Both Soosaar and Hils proved to be competitive, scoring by 2 wins each. Hils in fact finished fourth, but Soosaar fell to 10th following an injury that sidelined him for the last 3 races. Italian starlet Kevin Buffon filled in and scored a podium on his debut. Thanks to all of the driver's contributions, Andretti finished 2nd in the team standings.

However, all three drivers left the team at the end of 2021, Hils moving to Williams who also had formed an alliance with BMW, Soosaar moving to rivals Tesla Dragon and Buffon getting a permanent ride at Formula Earth newcomers Prema. The team signed Andrei Aimansha and Doug Tosser-Schmidt for the 2021 serason. Andretti had fell down to midfield, but still got a taste of podium with Aimansha scoring a solitary 3rd place. Aimansha finished 12th and Tosser-Schmidt in 16th place. Another new lineup was signed for 2022, Norman Power from Tesla Dragon and Francesco Virgolini from the dying Porsche team. Power scored a podium on his debut and scored consistent results on his way to 13th place. Virgolini finished in 15th but also missed 4 races as he filled in as a substitute at Prema. Simone Cimorelli filled the seat, failing to score points. Next year saw two more new drivers, Sake Okasas and Brigitte Bouvier. 2023 was a poor season as the new drivers proved to be not good enough and dropped in the backmarker group.

Unsurprisingly, both drivers were sacked and the team re-signed Buffon from Prema, this time on a permanent basis and also got Andelko Peric from Mercedes. 2024 was a much needed improvement, as Buffon finished in a fantastic 7th place and scored a best result of 2nd, which would prove later to be the team's last ever podium. Peric on the other hand struggled for consistensy and also picked up an injury. Spanish starlet Higinio Azkuenaga filled in for those two races and scored points in both of them with a best result of 6th.

## 2025-2029: In the lower midfield

Buffon was kept for one more year and Peric was replaced with Rene Lentz, a somewhat controversial driver who refused to be involved in the draft system. The team struggled to keep up with the midfield unlike 2024, but Lentz proved to be a shining light, beating Buffon, who was frustrated at the lack of pace, by 3 points. Buffon departed the team and Aimansha returned for a second stint. The team saw points harder to come due to the gulf between the frontrunners and the backmarkers increasing and Lentz scored 2 points and Aimansha 1. Lentz was kept for one more year due to his impressive performances and Aimansha was replaced with Swiss Erich von Ribermarch. Lentz proved to be the best of the backmarker group, but von Ribermarch struggled with the car and even saw himself in controversial incidents. Still, both drivers were keopt for 2028.

Lentz made a huge improvement for 2028, scoring 22 and all of the team's points, finishing 14th, but von Riebermarch again failed to score points, amid controversy that he did not have adequate support from the team. For 2029, Lentz scored 16 points and continued his impressive job at keeping the declining team afloat, and von Ribermarch had another year with no points.

## 2030-2033: Managerial errors, financial mismanagement and collapse

Unfortunately, in 2030, the team suffered a major blow as both drivers left the team. Lentz once again refused to be drafted and abruptly left the team, moving to WEC. At the same time, von Ribermarch moved to newcomers BP Silverstone, who claimed they had an exceptional talent in their hands. His later success with the British team sparked outrage in the following years as it was revealed that Andretti did not know how to help him develop his skills and focused entirely on Lentz. Also, at the same time the team's poor financial mismanagement saw them amassing large debts. For 2030, the team signed two newcomers from Formula Champions, Harold Nuts and Pawel Matuszczyk.

2030 was the worst season in the team's history, with both drivers failing to score points. 2031 was similar, but the talented Matuszczyk managed to score his first point and the team's only point. At that time, BMW was decreasing support and Andretti themselves had been focusing more on Indycar than the stricken team. It was believed that 2032 would be their final year as if there were not good results, Andretti would sell the team. However, Matuszczyk defied all odds by finishing 17th with 18 points and scoring a best result of 4th. Nuts also scored his first career points. As a result of this, Andretti stayed afloat for 2033.

Sadly, this is where the team received its final blow. Unable to hold on to his contract, they sold Matuszczyk to the ever-rising Venturi team and then the team made a very rash decision that would prove fatal. They signed Eugene Stanley on a free transfer from Haas, but signed him on a 4-year contract despite him being 31 years old. Also, due to the nature of the contract, it meant that not only Stanley was one of the highest-paid drivers of the FI grid, but also the team would continue to pay his wages even after his retirement. This proved to be the final nail in the team's coffin, as they finished last with only a single point from Stanley, and later the funds dried up. Andretti announced the imminent shutdown of the FI division in order to cut their losses and focus more on their succesful Indycar campaign, putting their remaining assets and grid spots for sale. The assets were purchased by HSBC Nero owner Alana Watson shortly after the end of the 2033 season, thus putting the British team on the grid for 2034. The assets Nero obtained included Stanley's contract which had 3 years remaining, but they sold it to Venturi after deeming Stanley surplus to requirements.

## Notable Drivers

* Rock Hils (2020)
* Mart Soosaar (2020)
* Kevin Buffon (2020, 2024-2025)
* Andrei Aimansha (2021, 2026)
* Doug Tosser-Schmidt (2021)
* Norman Power (2022)
* Francesco Virgolini (2022)
* Simone Cimorelli (2022)
* Sake Okasas (2023)
* Brigitte Bouvier (2023)
* Andelko Peric (2024)
* Higinio Azkuenaga (2024)
* Rene Lentz (2025-2029)
* Erich von Ribermarch (2026-2029)
* Pawel Matuszczyk (2030-2032)
* Harold Nuts (2030-2033)
* Eugene Stanley (2033)