The Formula 1 grid is growing by one.
One team, to be exact. F1 announced on Monday that an agreement in principle has been reached and that a General Motors-Cadillac team will be joining the grid for the 2026 season. The announcement brings to a close months of debate and discussion over a potential 11th team on the grid. In the announcement Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the FIA, stated that “General Motors is a huge global brand and powerhouse in the OEM world and is working with impressive partners. I am fully supportive of the efforts made by the FIA, Formula 1, GM, and the team to maintain dialogue and work towards this outcome of an agreement in principle to progress this application to bring a GM/Cadillac branded team on the grid for the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship. All parties, including the FIA, will continue to work together to ensure the process progresses smoothly.”
With this announcement, it is a perfect time to dive into what this means for the newest team on the grid, as well as what this means for the sport itself.
How has this process unfolded?
The announcement is the latest development in a process that has been underway for nearly two years. In January of 2023 the FIA, F1’s governing body, issued a call for Expressions Of Interest, inviting prospective teams to apply for entry on the F1 grid.
Four teams submitted entries, but only the bid from a proposed Andretti-Cadillac partnership bid was selected by the FIA.
However, the next step in the process was approval by Formula One Management, the sport’s commercial rights holders. In January of 2024, the FOM rejected the Andretti-Cadillac bid, asserting that the prospective team would not “bring value” to the sport.
That rejection touched off an escalating war of words that made it to the halls of Congress. In the days building up to the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, the House Judiciary Committee demanded answers regarding the rejection of the Andretti-Cadillac bid, and this summer Liberty Media, F1’s owners, confirmed a Department of Justice Antitrust investigation into the rejection.
However, as noted by Ben Sulayem’s comments, the involved parties maintained a dialogue throughout the process, and now a breakthrough has been reached.
What does this mean for Andretti Global?
As noted above, the initial prospective team was a partnership between Andretti Global and General Motors, under the Cadillac branding.
However, Andretti is conspicuously absent from this current prospective team, at least in name. More on that in a second.
It is worth noting that in recent weeks Michael Andretti, who was a driving force behind the prospective Andretti-Cadillac team, stepped down from his day-to-day role with Andretti Global. When that partnership was originally announced in 2023 Andretti stressed to the media, including SB Nation, the “All-Amercian” nature of their potential team.
While the younger Andretti has taken a step back, handing that control over to co-owner Dan Towriss the elder Andretti, Mario, will serve as a director on the new Cadillac F1 board.
“My first love was Formula 1 and now — 70 years later — the F1 paddock is still my happy place. I’m absolutely thrilled with Cadillac, Formula 1, Mark Walter, and Dan Towriss,” Andretti said in a statement. “To still be involved at this stage of my life — I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming.”
Then there is this factor: The statement regarding the new GM-Cadillac team also references partners TWG Global.
TWG Global is the ownership group that now controls Andretti Global.
How will the GM-Cadillac team operate?
As outlined in the statement — and part of what makes the proposed GM-Cadillac team intriguing to F1 — is the fact that the team will become a works operation in the future, producing their own power units.
However, that will not happen immediately. When the team joins the grid in 2026, in the first year of the new regulations, they will be a customer team, using power units provided by a team currently in the sport.
That has touched off speculation about what constructor the new GM-Cadillac will partner with on power units. Alpine, for example recently announced that they will shift to become a customer team of Mercedes.
Speculation at the moment centers on Ferrari as an obvious option for the GM-Cadillac team, until they can get their own power unit operation up and running. Ferrari also supplies power units for Haas, the most recent team to join the grid, and another team with American ties.
Who will be the drivers for GM-Cadillac F1?
In the hours since the announcement, many began to wonder who the two drivers to join the grid along with GM-Cadillac would be.
One of the first names mentioned was that of Colton Herta, who currently drives for Andretti in IndyCar. Herta was once linked with a spot at Red Bull with AlphaTauri — now Visa Cash App RB F1 Team — but lacking the requisite points on his Super License needed a waiver, which the FIA did not grant.
When the initial Andretti-Cadillac bid was announced Michael Andretti stressed that As it was to be an “All-American” operation, Herta would be an obvious choice as one of the drivers.
Assuming Herta is in the mix, who might the other driver be? The team might wish to lean into the “All-American” aspect of the operation and look for another American driver, with Logan Sargeant and Jak Crawford as options. Sargeant drove for a season-and-a-half with Williams but was dropped midway through the 2024 campaign as he failed to deliver consistent results. It is widely expected that Sargeant will make a move to IndyCar for the 2025 season. As for Crawford he currently serves as a reserve driver for Aston Martin in addition to his F2 duties, as well as his role as a Formula E reserve and development driver.
With Andretti’s entry in that series.
However, the team might look elsewhere, and for more experience to pair with Herta who would be an incoming F1 rookie. Some intriguing names to consider in this category? Valtteri Bottas, who recently lost his seat for 2025 at Sauber, and perhaps even Daniel Ricciardo. A move like that would certainly draw attention, and tap into an existing fan base.
What does the GM-Cadillac team mean for F1?
Finally, a few thoughts on what this means for the sport itself.
F1 has not tried to hide its ambitions in the United States. Looking to capitalize on the influx of new fans, driven to the sport in part because of the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive, the sport now has three races in the United States, including the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which was introduced for the 2023 season.
But beyond television shows and races in America, perhaps the best way to generate true interest in F1 here in the United States is to offer a true American team. Yes, Haas has ties to America, but an American manufacturer in General Motors, and an American brand in Cadillac, certainly ups the ties to the United States.
Add in an American driver or two, and you truly have the “All-American” vision that Michael Andretti outlined back in January of 2023. “[An] American manufacturer behind an American team with an American driver will be the biggest story of the year,” said Andretti back in 2023.
It seems his vision was ultimately proven correct.
In that same press conference back in January of 2023 Mark Reuss, the President of General Motors, also called it an “All-American” team.
That “All-American” aspect was reflected in the announcement on Monday, from Towriss. “We’re excited to partner with General Motors in bringing a dynamic presence to Formula 1,” said the CEO of TWG. “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 the FIA and FOM’s support of our application and their recognition of the value we can bring to the championship.”
For years F1 has been trying to increase its foothold in the United States.
An All-American team such as this GM-Cadillac partnership is the next step in that effort.
