After months of negotiations and several slamming doors by a section of Liberty Media, the holder of the exploitation rights of Formula 1, General Motors (GM) and Cadillac, one of the lines that operate under its umbrella, have received the green light to begin the procedures that should make them the eleventh team in the championship starting in 2026, precisely when the new technical regulations will enter the scene. Initially, the American alliance will operate as a client team, and then, in 2028, do so as its own structure, in principle supported by Andretti Global’s base in Silverstone (Great Britain). The agreement was announced this Monday by Greg Maffei, CEO of Formula 1 who will leave his position at the end of the year, as the company made public a couple of weeks ago.
“In terms of the F’s growth strategy in the United States, we have always believed that welcoming an American brand as impressive as Cadillac, and General Motors as a future powertrain supplier, could bring additional value and interest to our discipline. Maffei agreed. “We thank the leadership of General Motors and its partners for the significant progress in their preparation to enter F1. “We are excited to be able to move forward with the application process for the GM/Cadillac team to debut in the championship in 2026,” the executive added in the statement issued.
“As the greatest exponent of motorsport, F1 demands innovation and excellence to levels that go beyond the limits. It is an honor for General Motors and Cadillac to join the world’s main racing championship […]”, celebrated, for his part, Mark Reuss, president of GM. “This is a global stage for us to take GM’s engineering expertise and technological leadership to a completely new level,” the Detroit executive continued.
This outcome was a matter of time if we take into account Liberty’s expansive desires on the American continent, taking advantage of the hit given by the Netflix series ‘Drive to Survive’, which coincided with the pandemic. Since the entertainment giant took over F1 in 2017, the number of grand prix events in the United States has increased, reaching the current three events (Austin, Miami and Las Vegas).
Despite the tensions between the F1 bosses and the Andretti structure, whose inclusion was initially rejected for, according to the promoter, not providing enough value, the step aside taken by Michael Andretti, who handed over control to his partner, Dan Towriss, allowed the conversations to be resumed, accelerated and finalized, specifically last weekend, during the celebration of the test in Sin City.
