Michael Andretti, owner of the Walkinshaw Andretti United team, looks on during qualifying for the Supercars Adelaide 500 on March 2, 2018 in Adelaide, Australia.
Daniel Kalisz | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
Andretti joined forces General Motors in its quest to enter Formula 1 which, if successful, can even see the famous Cadillac name join the grid.
Team owner Michael Andretti lobbied the FIA, F1’s governing body, to expand the 20-car grid and went ahead with his plans despite failing to purchase Sauber in 2021 and resistance from F1 teams who argued that the eleventh would dilute their revenues.
Now, after FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has opened the door to recent teams, a partnership has been announced between considered one of America’s most successful racing teams and its largest automobile company.
Andretti’s headquarters could be in Indiana, while General Motors could be their engine and manufacturing partner, and the GM Cadillac brand would form a part of the entry. The team will probably be referred to as Andretti Cadillac Racing.
Sky Sports News understands that there could be no probability of a recent entry before 2026, while there are other interested parties studying F1 besides Andretti.
Any request by a recent entrant requires approval from each F1 and the FIA.
“Today’s news from the US is further proof of the recognition and growth of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship under FIA leadership,” said Ben Sulayemn following Andretti’s announcement.
“We’re particularly pleased with the interest from two iconic brands corresponding to General Motors Cadillac and Andretti Global.
“Any additional submissions could be based on positive acceptance of the FIA PU 2026 regulations amongst OEMs, which has already attracted a submission from Audi.
“Any expression of interest procedures will follow strict FIA protocol and can take several months.”
What Andretti ‘brings to the F1 party’ now
Andretti said in the announcement, the culmination of 4 months of negotiations with General Motors, that the American automaker provides Andretti’s efforts with the added value that rival teams must bring to F1.
“Certainly one of the large things was ‘what’s Andretti bringing to the party? ”said Andretti. “Well, now we’re bringing considered one of the most important manufacturers in the world with us from General Motors and Cadillac.
“We expect that was the one course we didn’t check, and we have checked now. I feel we’ll bring an enormous amount of support to Formula 1 and it’s hard for anyone to argue with that.”
F1 immediately responded with the identical tone it had been using since Andretti began pushing for expansion, noting that it had several parties interested in joining the series, with Andretti simply being probably the most visible. Andretti’s father, Mario Andretti, is the 1978 Formula One World Champion.
“There may be loads of interest in the F1 project in the meanwhile and lots of talks are continuing that aren’t as visible as others,” F1 said in a press release.
“All of us want the championship to stay credible and stable, and every recent entrant’s request will probably be assessed against criteria to fulfill these goals by the relevant stakeholders.”
Andretti said despite the statement, F1 still believes Andretti Global is the strongest contender. He admitted that F1 had not shared with him other interested parties.
“We’ve the chance to mix our passions for motorsports [with GM] and commitment to innovation to construct a real American F1 offering,” added Andretti.
“Together, we are going to proceed to follow the procedures and steps outlined by the FIA in the course of the assessment process. Within the meantime, we proceed to make optimistic preparations should we be lucky enough to have Andretti Cadillac formally endorsed as a Formula 1 challenger.”