Will we see a new American team in F1? The biggest car manufacturer in the US is considering joining with Andretti

Will we see a new team in Formula 1? According to the latest reports, Cadillac, the car company with which Michael Andretti has joined forces, is considering entering the queen of motorsport. He has been trying to enter F1 for some time and this could be the ideal alternative.

Another American flag in Formula One? Because according to recent reports, parent carmaker General Motors has teamed up with Andretti, whereupon they may now seek to enter the queen of motorsport together.

And General Motors is the largest car manufacturer in the United States. It should be noted, Andretti has been trying to enter F1 for a long time, but all his attempts so far have been unsuccessful. Will it work now?

Entering with his own team is not easy!

As we wrote in one of our recent articles, entering Formula One with your own team is not easy.

There is what is known as the Concorde Agreement, which requires each new entrant to pay a $200 million entry fee, with the money split between the existing teams as compensation.

Then the current version of the “Concorde Agreement” between the teams, the FIA and Formula One also stipulates that the 10 teams split their share of the sport’s revenue, and any new entrant would dilute that pool. Moreover, F1 boss Stefano Domenicali recently said that Formula 1 doesn’t even need any new teams.

Therefore, most teams have also reacted somewhat coolly, even dismissively, to the potential eleventh team in the grid. It should be added, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem recently stated that Formula 1 is ready for an increase in the number of teams. So support from the FIA would be obvious.

General Motors

The largest car manufacturer in the US has been trying to keep expanding its interests in recent years, one of which is of course motorsport.

On the American scene, General Motors has become a mainstay in IndyCar and IMSA competitions, and on the European front, they have entered their Cadillac LMDh brand in the FIA World Endurance Championship, which is an endurance race.

And it was this move that made it clear that General Motors wanted to go even further with their Cadillac. General Motors President Mark Reuss said that in the past it has been very difficult for American automakers to take such a big step as just entering F1.

And that was for financial reasons. Under Barack Obama, the US government had to give GM financial assistance to keep it afloat. But now the situation has changed. Revenues hit a new record profit of $41.9 billion in the third quarter of 2022, showing the strength of this carmaker.

Reuss then also admitted that the Andretti family’s interest was indeed very important to General Motors and their Cadillac brand. The American F1 team would then be named Andretti Cadillac Racing, but the powertrains would not be built directly by General Motors, at least initially.

However, this could change in the future, with Andretti reportedly having access to all racing operations.

So while Cadillac is not a brand where one immediately thinks of speed or luxury, GM is clearly looking to change that perception. After all, F1 is perhaps the best marketing tool for automakers.

Sources