General Motors Bringing Works Team to Formula 1 in 2026
After a very public failed attempt by Michael Andretti, GM succeeds in bringing an 11th team to the grid.
After a very public failed attempt by Michael Andretti to bring another American team to Formula 1, General Motors has fought through the bureaucracy and politics to join the grid as a works team in 2026. The announcement came this morning after the series just wrapped up the Las Vegas Grand Prix over the weekend.
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Formula 1 is touted as the pinnacle of motorsports, but it’s also the most exclusive. Currently there are only 10 teams, and each team can only field two cars. Formula 1 shares its profits with the teams; that means whenever a new challenger wants to join the fray, they’re often met with pushback from the other teams, who don’t want a smaller slice of the pie.
In 2023 Michael Andretti made his intentions known that he would make an attempt bringing a team to the Formula 1 grid by 2025 or 2026 with GM as an engine partner under the Cadillac brand. While F1’s sanctioning body the FIA approved the bid on its technical merit, Formula One Management (FOM) has the final say and it rejected Andretti. Ultimately concluding that it didn’t believe Andretti could put together a competitive team in the window of time specified. The rejection caused such an uproar that a House Judiciary Committee launched an investigation into F1.
With GM making a successful bid to join as a manufacturer team with its Cadillac brand, it would seem that the FOM has more faith than it did when Michael Andretti would be running the show. American racing legend Mario Andretti will serve as a director on the team’s board, but there has been no mention if Michael Andretti will be involved.
As the plan stands, GM will join the Formula 1 grid in 2026 and come on as an engine supplier at a later date. This means for at least the first season or two, the Cadillac F1 car will be powered by another engine manufacturer. Mario Andretti confirmed in an interview with NBC News that the team is in talks with Ferrari to be its engine supplier, but nothing is set yet. Andretti also confirmed that the team isn't in talks with any other engine suppliers and currently the goal is for GM's engine program to start in 2028. This is not unheard of in the sport. For example, currently both McLaren and Aston Martin’s F1 cars are running Mercedes-Benz engines.
The GM/Cadillac effort will join Haas F1 as the second American-owned F1 team on the grid, and once GM gets its engine program underway, it will be the first American “works” team in Formula 1 history. A works team is one that builds its own car and engines, usually backed by a major auto manufacturer such as Scuderia Ferrari, for example.
We would be lying if we said we’re not curious as to what impact this could have on Cadillac’s road cars. In 2026 F1 is moving toward hybrid powertrains with 50/50 split of power between the combustion engine and electric powertrain. Could that mean that once GM gets its engine program up and running we'll see its high-performance hybrid tech trickle down into its road cars? That would be something, wouldn’t it?
Andrew Beckford’s passion for cars started as a middle schooler when his friend Richie explained how an internal combustion engine works. He was bitten by the bug and the rest, as they say, is history. He dug deep into the tuner scene and eventually wrote for Turbo Magazine, Import Tuner, Super Street. He covered car shows, feature builds, and reviewed racing games for those magazines in addition to covering motorsports including Formula Drift, Indy Car, and F1 for his personal blog. Eventually Beckford joined MotorTrend to cover the daily automotive news beat. Besides being a gearhead, Beckford has been a gamer since the ’80s and is a huge fan of the arcade racing games of the ’90s like Daytona USA, SEGA Rally, and Ridge Racer. Beckford’s a movie buff as well, especially comic book films from DC and Marvel. When car culture crosses over with gaming and entertainment, rest assured Beckford is aware of it. In addition to serving as a consultant on a “triple A” racing titles, he’s reviewed major racing games such as Forza Motorsport, Need for Speed, Gran Turismo, F1, and more. He’s also interviewed blockbuster directors including Steven Caple Jr. (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Neill Blomkamp (Gran Turismo). His biggest profile to date was with Robert Downey Jr. on his love affair with cars and his show Downey’s Dream Cars on MAX. Beckford’s profile of Downey Jr. was the first print cover story written by an African American in MotorTrend’s history. Along with KJ Jones, Andrew Beckford also heads up MotorTrend’s celebration of Black History Month by spotlighting diverse voices in the automotive industry and motorsports. Beckford’s first car was a 1982 Nissan Stanza affectionately named “Stanley” by his late mother.
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