Confirmation of Cadillac’s 2026 F1 entry ‘should not take too long’

Formula One Management expects to formally approve the expansion of the grid to accommodate Cadillac as an 11th team in the near future.

The FIA and FOM confirmed in November the American carmaking giant had an “agreement in principle” to join the grid next year.

With the new F1 season due to start next week, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali indicated confirmation of the grid’s expansion next season is imminent.

“There is the formality that is related to the process that [is] almost ready. Together with the FIA there has to be an update and whenever this will be ready, it should be not too long, there will be an update to formalise what basically has already happened. So they will be ready to fight against or together with the other teams for next year.”

Over two years have passed since the team originally applied to enter the championship. The FIA approved its application, originally made by Andretti Global, in October 2023.

Andretti subsequently attracted the backing of Cadillac as its future power unit supplier. Despite this, FOM rejected the team’s bid to enter the series in January last year, saying adding an 11th competitor “would not, in and of itself, provide value to the championship.”

FOM reversed its position later in the year and granted entry to the operation, which is now branded as Cadillac’s F1 team. Domenicali denied FOM had resisted the expansion of the grid when he spoke to investors last week.

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“It’s important to clarify that position,” he said. “We always said that Cadillac is giving, and will give, an incredible boost to the ecosystem of Formula 1. We were referring to other situations that were handled before, but now the picture is totally different.

“I think that Cadillac is preparing the entry – in terms of preparing the season, because it would not be an easy situation for them to be in such a high-tech and evolved sporting platform – they are doing everything in order to show how Cadillac is really involved into the sport.”

“GM […] want to be a real constructor or a manufacturer that will invest in our sport because they do believe in the technological platform that the F1 can provide to their system,” he added. “So I’m very, very happy that now this is on board, moving forward, and looking forward to see them on the track together with the other teams to fight for a great championship.”

Domenicali said the arrival of Andretti will not have implications for the next Concorde Agreement, which defines the relationship between FOM and the teams, and is due to come into force next year.

“There’s no impact at all with the current discussion of the Concorde Agreement,” he said. “Concorde is done by two major elements. One is the financial one that is related to the commercialisation and the marketing side of it. That discussion is between us and the teams and we are in a good position on that.

“The other topic or the other part of it is the governance. Of course, we need to work together with the FIA and the teams, and on that, we’re working in order to respect the dates. There’s no time pressure because we are all working as partners and we want to find the best solution for the sport.

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“This is something that we’re going to do even with one more team together into the future because of course Cadillac will be part of it and it will have a voice as the others into the future.”

Most of F1’s current teams resisted the expansion of the grid as they were concerned about a potential loss of earnings if FOM split the prize fund between 11 teams instead of 10. However Derek Chang, who replaced Greg Maffei as CEO of FOM’s owner Liberty Media last year, says their goal is to continue increasing the overall prize fund so teams’ earnings increase.

“In my early days here I have had the opportunity to meet with some of the teams over the last month or so and I think the relationship between Formula 1 and the teams has never been stronger,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot of good positive affirmation of that in terms of what Liberty has done since we acquired F1 and I think people really are excited about the future and growing the overall pie in terms of the economics of what the sport can deliver. Specifically on the Concorde Agreement and our splits with the teams, Stefano already remarked on the fact that hopefully we get the Concorde Agreement done soon.

“At this point the entry of an 11th team has not really impacted sort of that discussion per se and if you think about it, it doesn’t impact the splits between us and the team. It certainly is an 11th team in terms of the allocations amongst the teams themselves, but again, I think with the entry of a group like GM, the hope and the thought here is that we continue to grow the overall pie for Formula 1 and the Formula 1 ecosystem.”

The Cadillac Formula 1 team is part of TWG Motorsports, which was formed by investment company TWG Global last week to run its motorsport operations, including Andretti Global and others.