F1 agrees to GM joining grid for 2026 season

Nate Saunders, General Editor, F1Nov 25, 2024, 01:15 PM ET

Formula 1 has confirmed that it has reached an agreement in principle with General Motors to add an 11th team to the grid for 2026, with the new outfit likely to be branded as Cadillac.

The chance of the GM bid joining the grid appeared to be dead in the water just months ago after initially being led by Andretti Global but has now accelerated to being a fully-fledged team for the season after next.

F1 had initially rejected an Andretti-GM bid and closed the door on that specific proposal until 2028.

The sport has had 10 teams on the grid since 2017, and that looked likely to remain the case for the foreseeable future.

But in an announcement on Monday, F1 said it had “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.”

F1 said GM has “achieved operational milestones and made clear their commitment to brand the eleventh team GM/Cadillac.”

GM has also made a commitment to enter as a single engine supplier at a later time, according to the F1 news release, although it will need a customer deal with an existing manufacturer for its debut season in 2026 and likely for 2027 too.

F1 teams had been lukewarm about the original bid led by Michael Andretti, son of 1978 world champion Mario.

Michael Andretti had angered F1 teams and the sport’s owner, Liberty Media, by calling the sport “greedy” for blocking his attempts to join the grid. He stepped away from his leadership role at Andretti Global last month.

While opposed to the Andretti side of the bid, F1 was very open to the idea of bringing a manufacturer of General Motors’ size and stature to the grid, especially if it would commit to building its own engines in future.

The entry of a team branded Cadillac would be another huge boost for the sport as its popularity continues to boom in the U.S. It remains to be seen whether the team will bring an American driver, but it now means there are two additional spots on the grid for emerging and existing talent.

The American team will be based in a UK factory near Silverstone racetrack that Andretti Global started work on earlier this year.

Greg Maffei, the outgoing CEO and president of Liberty Media, said: “With Formula 1’s continued growth plans in the U.S., 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.”

Mark Reuss, president of General Motors, added: “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.”