- Cadillac will become F1’s 11th team in 2026
- GM and F1 announced an agreement in principle in November
- Cadillac plans to become a full works team with its own power units in 2030
Cadillac on Friday announced that it had received final approval from Formula One Management to join the F1 grid in 2026 as the series’ 11th team.
“We’re thrilled the Cadillac Formula 1 Team is official, as the team has been accelerating its work,” GM president Mark Reuss said in a statement. “The excitement only grows as we get closer to showcasing GM’s engineering expertise on the prestigious global stage of F1.”
Final approval follows an agreement in principle between GM and F1 announced last November. That opened the door for Cadillac to join F1 after nearly two years of negotiations, and some changes in the leadership backing GM’s bid.
GM announced its intention to partner with Andretti Global, led by F1 champion Mario Andretti and his son Michael, in January 2023, confirming a power-unit project that would make Cadillac a full works team the following November. That bid was approved by the FIA, the sanctioning body for F1, but shot down by Formula One Management, the commercial rights holder.
After Michael Andretti stepped down as head of Andretti Global last September, a new partnership between GM and TWG Global, the parent company of Andretti Global and several other race teams, was announced and approved by all concerned parties a few months later.
Andretti’s former U.K. hub was formally renamed Cadillac Formula Racing last December and will serve as the team’s main base of operations. That removed the last link between the Andretti business and Cadillac, although Mario Andretti has been appointed as director of the team’s board.
GM has also established a new company, GM Performance Power Units, headed by motorsports veteran Russ O’Blenes, to supply powertrains with the goal of making Cadillac a full works team by 2030. The team will use Ferrari power units in the meantime.
Former Marussia Sporting Director Graeme Lowdon will serve as team principal, with more staffing announcements, as well as the signing of Cadillac’s first F1 drivers, likely to come over the next few months.