Cadillac to F1 in 2026, Formal Approval Secured

After a drawn-out effort with plenty of stops and starts, Cadillac has cleared the final hurdle between it and the F1 grid. Today, Formula 1 Management and the FIA announced that the Cadillac Formula 1 team, backed by General Motors and TWG Motorsports, have met all the requirements to join the series’ other ten team on the grid in March, 2026.

GM President Mark Reuss said in a press release: “We’re thrilled the Cadillac Formula 1 Team is official, as the team has been accelerating its work. We’re incredibly grateful for the support from the FIA and Formula 1 Management leadership for us and for our collaboration with TWG. The excitement only grows as we get closer to showcasing GM’s engineering expertise on the prestigious global stage of F1.”

As much as one might expect Reuss to express enthusiasm in this announcement, it’s certainly justified—the effort has been monumental, and GM, TWG Motorsports, and the Andretti family and businesses have put a lot of effort into getting to this point. The anti-dilution fee has been reported to be $450M to offset the impact to shared revenues among the teams, a team of over 300 individuals are diligently toiling away (and spending money) developing a car with the 2026 season in mind, while short- and long-term plans for the car’s drivetrain have been laid out.

And there was much ado about those engines. From a timing perspective, there was no path for GM to assemble an engine program to meet the 2026 target, and many of the existing teams speaking out against Cadillac cited the importance of an in-house engine program. Ultimately, the team has elected to use Ferrari power units for 2026 and 2027. In 2028, Cadillac plans to roll out their own.

All of that behind-the-scenes negotiation and challenging engineering work says nothing of the public machinations of the process, initially spearheaded by Michael Andretti. As is the way of F1, the back-and-forth between teams, the FIA, and Andretti played played out on our screens in the kind of drama we’ve come to expect from the world’s most popular motorsport. Though he is no longer the public face of the program, Andretti remains involved, according to a Forbes report.

With all that in the rearview mirror, Cadillac can put 100 percent of its energy into developing its team. Graeme Lowdon, team principal for the Cadillac F1 team, shared, “I couldn’t be more proud of the effort put in by the entire Cadillac Formula 1 Team. This announcement is the next step in getting on the grid and continues our efforts towards building a full-works team. Through the long and thorough application process, we have never lost pace in our planning or our belief in the mission. We can’t wait to go racing and give fans a new team to cheer for.”