F1 Agrees to GM/Cadillac Entry for 2026 Season
If you’ve been following the saga of the Andretti/Cadillac bid to join F1, you know that the pairing has faced lots of speed bumps and a major stall. In January, F1 said no thanks and told Andretti to try again in 2028; it didn’t think the fledgling team could be competitive, even with financial and engineering backing from General Motors. With that setback, we didn’t expect to hear good news on the venture any time soon. An F1 press release today changed all that.
“Formula 1 has maintained a dialogue with General Motors, and its partners at TWG Global, regarding the viability of an entry following the commercial assessment and decision made by Formula 1 in January 2024,” reads the release, which continues: “Over the course of this year, they have achieved operational milestones and made clear their commitment to brand the eleventh team GM/Cadillac, and that GM will enter as an engine supplier at a later time.
“Formula 1 is therefore pleased to move forward with this application process and will provide further updates in due course.” The plan is for GM/Cadillac to race in 2026 and 2027 with a supplied engine and field its own engine starting in 2028.
Notably, neither the release from F1 nor the one from Cadillac mention Michael Andretti, pictured above, who has spearheaded the push for the new entry. That’s because Andretti stepped down as CEO of Andretti Global last month. (According a statement provided to Forbes, however, Andretti “remains engaged” with the company that bears his name “and will continue to serve as a strategic advisor and key ambassador.”)
In his stead, Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Global’s motorsports businesses, made a statement: “We’re excited to partner with General Motors in bringing a dynamic presence to Formula 1. Together, we’re assembling a world-class team that will embody American innovation and deliver unforgettable moments to race fans around the world. We appreciate FIA and FOM’s support of our application and their recognition of the value we can bring to the championship.”
TWG Global owns and operates Andretti Global as well as Wayne Taylor Racing, which will be running two of Cadillac’s V-Series.R cars in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship in 2025, and Spire Motorsports, which fields teams in NASCAR’s Cup and Craftsman Truck Series. The new GM/Cadillac F1 team has facilities in Silverstone, England, and at three motorsports meccas in America: Charlotte, North Carolina; Warren, Michigan; and Fishers, Indiana, just outside of Indianapolis.
We’ll be looking forward to seeing another team on the F1 grid. Hopefully the addition spurs competition; especially as America is growing to appreciate the series, it could be a big win for F1 and Cadillac to have a familiar American brand in the sport. We don’t expect Cadillac to be an immediate contender, but a new set of rules in 2026 could shuffle things up.
This is great. GM after many mistakes in the past have learned much from the Corvette program. A strong smart technically advanced partner is key.
I am proud they are not sone mfgs that just pay to put their name on a team.
The first couple years will be got learning and building the team. But they should be successful band competitive.
This is not another Haas deal.
I would not be shocked if Cadillac may pull down a Lemans too.
The next question is this. NASCAR? No more Camaro or Malibu. Will we see a CT5 there?
Not sure who Michael pissed off but they sure hold a grudge.
I just hope Mario remains in good heath and is on the podium at the first win!
Are you forgetting Michael’s performances as a driver in F-1? Enzo-land does not forget easily.
The list of people Michael has NOT pissed off is much shorter than the ones he has…
Word is that GM wants to take over the Alpine (Renault ) F-1 engine program that was well underway. Further develop from that point. That makes sense. Alpine had already invested a significant of time and money in the program.Not to mention Renault has campaigned in F-1 for so long now that connection and knowledge of the in’s and out’s will probably prove useful. Having their own engine for 2028 corresponds to the new engine rules package for that year, which is said to be “simpler “. 2026 -07 possible as a getting their feet wet period but they will have to go to another manufacturer for engines. Who that might be no one is apparently even speculating at this point.
Latest is Ferrari.
The Alpine deal has been off and on.
I also heard GM was already developing their own engine for the new rules.
Time will tell.
So that’s not a lawnmower?
I can imagine that Hyper. With Sauber- Audi producing their own 2026 engines and leaving Ferrari , they would probably be more than happy to have Cadillac fill that hole. It’s only been a couple months since Alpine pulled the plug and a day since the GM deal was announced so maybe they can find a mutually beneficial arrangement. At the very least GM probably owes them a beer for opening a manufactures slot and helping to pave the way.
Just saw an interview with Mario. They are only talking to Ferrari at this point and expect the deal to go through. Mario is still popular with the company.
He also eluted to that Cadillac was already working on their engine. If they were going with a modified Alpine I would thing they would have used their engine.
From what I have heard and my gut the Cadillac will be all GM. They have the Ability to do it as long as management is willing to foot the costs. The new ZR1 engines is proof of their abilities so there is no reason they should not do their own engine.
Keep in mind GM will make extensive use of all their racing programs and suppliers. It is very extensive and a very advanced system. Even the NASCAR teams like Childress were building the very advanced GTP engines for Cadillac. And engine issues have not been their problems. Mostly getting run into by back markers.
There is no limit so what an American team and company can do if funded properly. That has always been the issue as most never were funded like the top teams.
Or like Ford they recently just pay to put a name on someone else work.
Ah yes! The obligatory Ford bashing. Trolling or an example the downside of the Dunning- Kruger effect ? I think the latter.
I wish this would lead to some high performance Cadillac but that likely isn’t happening.
The press release was quickly translated from F1 business-speak to English- “F1 has realized that the U$ market is the only place left for any $ignifucant growth potential”