Formula 1 on Monday announced an agreement with General Motors and its Cadillac brand to join the race series as the 11th team starting in 2026.
F1, which Liberty Media bought in 2017, has been exploring adding another team to the grid and multiple bidders were in the running last year, including one led by Michael Andretti that included GM. Yet, there was friction between the racing scion and many inside F1. The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation on why the Andretti bid was not accepted.
In September, Andretti stepped down from his eponymous firm, and new Andretti Global majority owners Dan Towriss and Mark Walter stepped in to partner with GM on an F1 team bid. Towriss is the CEO of Group 1001, which owns financial services firm Gainbridge, and he owns Spire Motorsports’ NASCAR team. Walter is the CEO of financial services firm Guggenheim Partners and is the control owner of MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers and an investor in Premier League club Chelsea.
“With Formula 1’s continued growth plans in the US, we have always believed that welcoming an impressive U.S. brand like GM/Cadillac to the grid and GM as a future power unit supplier could bring additional value and interest to the sport,” Greg Maffei, Liberty Media CEO, said in a statement.
Formula 1 has wanted to bring an American automaker into the sport, as the race circuit has taken off in the U.S. where there are three races annually—Italy is the only other country that hosts more than one. The GM team will use Ferrari engines for two years with Cadillac taking over manufacturing in 2028.
“General Motors and Cadillac’s commitment to this project is an important and positive demonstration of the evolution of our sport,” Stefano Domenicali, Formula 1 CEO, said. “We look forward to seeing the progress and growth of this application, certain of the full collaboration and support of all the parties involved.”
F1’s last expansion was in 2010.
No financial details were disclosed. The current Concorde Agreement, which governs the sport, was signed in 2020 and established a slot price of $200 million to cover the dilution of shared revenue by adding another team. But F1 team values have skyrocketed, and the expectation is the cost will be multiple times higher than that. The current Concorde agreement expires after the 2025 season.
On Sunday, Max Verstappen won his fourth consecutive drivers’ championship at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which is the one race owned by Liberty Media.
