GM's Cadillac to Join F1 as 11th Team in 2026
Formula 1 has reached an agreement in principle with General Motors to bring Cadillac to the grid as the sport's eleventh team starting in 2026. This would mark the first team expansion since Haas joined in 2016.
Facts
- Formula 1 has reached an agreement in principle with General Motors to bring Cadillac to the grid as the sport's eleventh team starting in 2026. This would mark the first team expansion since Haas joined in 2016.[1][2]
- The deal requires GM and TWG Global to pay a $450M anti-dilution fee to existing teams as compensation for sharing the prize money pool, which will now be split eleven ways instead of 10.[1]
- GM plans to enter with a customer engine supply from 2026 before developing its power units to achieve full works team status by 2028, with Ferrari emerging as the likely initial engine supplier.[1][3]
- The team will operate primarily from a Silverstone-based facility in the UK, with additional support from Indiana, North Carolina, Michigan, and Germany's Toyota wind tunnel facilities.[4][5]
- Racing legend Mario Andretti will serve as a director on the team's board, while his son Michael Andretti, who previously led the F1 entry effort, is no longer involved in the project's operations.[1][5]
- The new bid is being viewed distinctly from a proposal rejected in January, as GM will now be entering as a team owner.[1]
Sources: [1]BBC News, [2]The National, [3]Motorsport, [4]Forbes and [5]ESPN.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by The New York Times. The addition of an iconic American manufacturer like GM brings unprecedented value to F1. It promises significant technological innovation and expands the sport's growing US presence, with three Grand Prix races already on the calendar. GM's commitment to becoming a full-work team demonstrates its serious long-term investment to competing at the highest level of motorsport.
- Narrative B, as provided by Sky Sports. The new team's entry poses significant financial and competitive challenges, as splitting the prize money eleven ways will impact existing teams' revenues. Additionally, building a competitive F1 operation from scratch could take up to a decade of heavy investment, and there are concerns about the team's ability to be immediately competitive against well-established competitors.
Predictions
