Team bosses were caught by surprise by the announcement of the 11th F1 team

Following the announcement of the expansion of the current F1 grid, F1 team bosses claim that they do not have any fear from a potential head start for General Motor’s Cadillac team.

General Motors and TWG Global confirmed last week that they have reached an agreement in principle with Formula 1 to bring a Cadillac team to the series in 2026.

In addition, the US car giant is also launching an F1 power unit that will put the Cadillac Formula 1 Team on the path to being a “full works” team — building its own F1 vehicles and power units — by the end of the decade.

The announcement means that Cadillac will be the first new team to join F1 since 2016 and the eleventh team on the grid.

Ahead of the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, General Motors also confirmed that Graeme Lowdon will join the fray as team principal for the new Cadillac F1 team. The Briton is also involved in management for China’s first and only F1 driver Zhou Guanyu.

Asked whether the share of the dilution fee is enough to compensate for the extra competition for prize money, Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack has revealed that they have been caught by surprise.

“Well, This came a little bit by surprise or came a little bit unexpected. And I do not have so much information about it, to be honest. So I think we have to trust F1 there, FIA, how this is going to go.

“I don’t know about what payments are being made or have to be made. I think this will have to be defined going forward. So, yeah, I can’t say much except that, yeah, we will have to trust F1 that this is going the way it should go.

Williams team boss James Vowles stressed that the fact that General Motors elected to join the fray shows that the sport is “doing well.”

“I think, first of all, it’s a sign of how well the sport is doing that we have a major OEM like GM joining us. I think it’s just a sign of the growth, a sign of where Formula 1 is going. I don’t think there’s actually any defined amount of dilution fee. I think that’s a part of a ‘26 Concorde, which hasn’t been ratified at this point.

“What I’ve said all the way through is it will have financial loss for existing teams. What we have to do now is grow the sport sufficiently and from need to be aware of that in order to make things good for everyone.

Echoing the sentiments of Vowles, RB team boss Laurent Mekies reckoned that the announcement indicates “the sport is going towards the direction of a battle of giants.”

“I mean, echoing what James said, I think all together it’s a fantastic sign for the sport. It’s going to be pretty much all car manufacturers probably, except for Williams and us. You know, even Haas is also linked to a car manufacturers now.

“So it’s a battle of giants, and it’s another sign that the sport is going towards the direction of a battle of giants. And the details of the financials, they are still under discussion, and hopefully they become small in the big pictures of where the sport can go for its next level.”