F1 officially announces General Motors/Cadillac's entry as the 11th Formula 1 team in 2026
F1 has officially announced General Motors/Cadillac's entry as Formula 1's 11th team for the 2026 season. That brings to an end what has been a multiple-year back-and-forth of getting another team on the grid amidst some stern opposition from the FOM and the incumbent teams.
The entity at the forefront of it was Andretti, as the American brand wanted to find a place on the F1 grid since 2020 but failed to accomplish it. It first began with a failed bid to buy Sauber in 2020 and was followed by very public lobbying and opposition against Andretti getting a slot as the 11th team.
The vocal opposition came from incumbent teams like Mercedes, Red Bull, and others. As Toto Wolff explained over the last few years, the opposition was a result of the Andretti brand not being big enough to bring additional value to the sport, which would justify a reduced percentage of the revenue every team would incur with an 11th participant.
After the FIA rolled out applications for the 11th team, Andretti was the only one that cleared the criteria as it aimed to enter F1 in 2026 with a partnership involving General Motors (with the Cadillac brand). Even though the American brand had passed the checks and balances put in place by the governing body, the FOM rejected the application.
That led to a legal case being registered against F1 in America by Andretti early in the year. It's difficult to guess how big a role that played, but the FOM has now issued a statement welcoming General Motors/Cadillac as the 11th team on the 2026 grid. The statement read:
"Formula 1 announced today that it has reached an agreement in principle with General Motors (GM) to support bringing GM/Cadillac as the eleventh team to the Formula 1 grid in 2026. 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.
"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."
Greg Maffei, the outgoing FOM president expressed excitement at the American giant joining the grid as he said:
“With Formula 1’s continued growth plans in the US, we have always believed that welcoming an impressive US brand like GM/Cadillac to the grid and GM as a future power unit supplier could bring additional value and interest to the sport.
"We credit the leadership of General Motors and their partners with significant progress in their readiness to enter Formula 1. We are excited to move forward with the application process for the GM/Cadillac team to enter the Championship in 2026.”
General Motors president shares his take on the brand joining F1
General Motors president Mark Reuss gave his take on the brand joining F1 as he talked about how the sport demands boundary-pushing innovation and excellence. The brand has a racing heritage for sure but has never raced in the pinnacle of motorsports before 2026.
Talking about GM's imminent entry to the sport, Reuss said:
“As the pinnacle of motorsports, F1 demands boundary-pushing innovation and excellence.
"It’s an honor for General Motors and Cadillac to join the world’s premier racing series, and we’re committed to competing with passion and integrity to elevate the sport for race fans around the world. This is a global stage for us to demonstrate GM’s engineering expertise and technology leadership at an entirely new level.”
The absence of Andretti's name could raise questions. It will be interesting to see if the American racing family plays any role in it.