Cadillac Bid To Enter F1 Gets Negative Reactions From Teams
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Cadillac is vying to join the FIA Formula One (F1) World Championship racing series as the eleventh team on the grid, with the luxury marque recently announcing a partnership with Michael Andretti’s Andretti Global. However, the new proposal was reportedly met with negative reactions from current F1 teams.
Per a recent report from Reuters, which cites a senior F1 team figure, a “strong majority” of F1 teams were against adding Cadillac and Andretti Global to the series, saying that the move would dilute the share of revenues. What’s more, Reuters says that the senior figure characterized GM’s involvement in F1 as a “badging exercise,” rather than a full manufacturer commitment, adding that the $200 million entry fee was not enough compensation for the other teams.
Cadillac Racing LMDh Le Mans Prototype
F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali, a former team principle at the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team, commented last year that expanding the F1 team list was “not a priority.” Last May, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff commented that the “value of Formula One is that it’s a limited amount of franchises and we don’t want to dilute that value by just adding teams.”
According to an F1 spokesman, any new entrant to the series required approval from both F1 and the series’ governing body, the FIA. Meanwhile, FIA boss Mohammed Ben Sulayem took to social media to comment on the situation, tweeting that it was “surprising” that the proposed Cadillac / Andretti team entry had been met with an adverse reaction. It’s been suggested that Ben Sulayem’s comments hint at growing tension between the FIA and F1’s commercial rights holders, Liberty Media, plus current F1 teams.
Cadillac Racing LMDh Le Mans Prototype
“The @FIA has accepted the entries of smaller, successful organisations in recent years. We should be encouraging prospective F1 entries from global manufacturers like @GM and thoroughbred racers like Andretti and others,” Ben Sulayem wrote, adding, “Interest from teams in growth markets adds diversity and broadens @F1’s appeal.”
Critically, even if Cadillac is finally accepted, the process of actually joining F1 is lengthy, with insiders indicating that a new team accepted now would not be able to compete until 2026.
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Remember…..there is money for this…..but not for a new Camaro or anything that isn’t a Korean Krossover….
A badging exercise… like Red Bull, or fashion houses, or water purification firms, etc? And the $200 million entry fee was approved by all the teams to offset any delution, before the budget caps! Sounds more like not wanting an American team in their little club.
In other words, the competition is greedy and doesn’t want to increase their chance of losses. Bring it on, Cadillac.
Well Toto was against Andretti from the start. Only two teams want them.
The teams over there want a German Audi with deep pockets and commitment.
They see Andretti as another Jackie Stewart Jaguar Ford effort.
GM to go this has to be very committed and not just do their usual effort.
GM appears to be taking the Honda package for an engine to start. This will give them an engine that can win. Andretti and GM both have Honda ties.
As for chassis all three have ties to Dallas’s.
It is not going to be easy but I expect them to get in. 3 races in America and Colton Herta bring in line.
This may be interesting.
Mark understands the commitment but will the board pull the rug on this after a short run?
What Honda package?
The current plan is for the Andretti/Cadillac team to run Honda engines at the beginning, then transition to Cadillac-produced engines.
The one they were working on for 2026. They supply Red Bull now.
Honda is no longer producing F1 PUs. Red Bull is building their own.
Argue with the news reports. Read below from Racer mag.
The initial form of this deal envisaged that Honda would develop its 2021 engine to be compatible with a small fuel change for 2022 then operate as a contractor in 2022, helping with the assembly and maintenance of the engines. A new company set up by Red Bull, called Red Bull Powertrains, would take over the running of the engines in 2023 before being expanded and tasked with building an in-house engine in 2026.
What Red Bull knew would not be possible would be to develop an engine in the interim. Even a rapidly created Powertrains division would not have the capacity or expertise to develop an engine in 2022.
‘There was no light’ – How Honda emerged from an F1 abyss
Read more
This was the gap that needed to be filled because a freeze was coming for 2023 anyway. The hybrid era had long been too complicated and expensive, performance was converging and new rules were slowly being drafted too for 2025 (pushed back to 2026 in the end).
The freeze was going to happen for the start of 2023. Red Bull just pushed for it to be brought forward, so that engine specifications would be frozen and no performance updates would be allowed after the end of the 2021 season.
This was very much a case of Red Bull wanting to have its cake and eat it. There are provisions in F1’s regulations that would have forced another manufacturer to supply both Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri with engines.
It is very involved.
Read DEBUNKING A NONSENSE RED BULL-HONDA F1 ENGINE CONSPIRACY Dec 20 2022 on Racer magazine web site.
Interesting. I must have skipped over this article in Racer, being a long-time subscriber. My faded interest in F1 over the last couple seasons prevents the cover-to-cover bible reading of more interesting times.
Audi is already in F1, they bought into Sauber earlier this year. Sauber uses Ferrari engines, but the team races as Alfa Romeo F1. The team will become Sauber F1 in 24, when their Alfa deal ends, but will still use Ferrari power units. I don’t know if Sauber will use the Audi name in 24, or wait for their own power unit in 26.
It was originally thought that Andretti/Cadillac would partner with Honda, since both already have ties with Honda, but it’s now thought they may be partnering with Renault. Renault races as Alpine F1, and unlike Honda, Ferrari and Mercedes, they don’t have any customer teams. Adding Cadillac as a buyer for their power units would be helpful to them from both a monetary and development standpoint. Alpine (Renault) also happened to be one of the two teams (McLaren being the other) to support Andretti’s entrance in F1.
I don’t know if F1 will allow Andretti to use Dallara chassis’. F1 regs require each team to build their own car, without outside help. This was an issue the last couple years when the Haas looked like a previous Ferrari, and the Aston Martin looked like a year old Mercedes. Andretti is building a huge new facility in Indiana I thought in anticipation of building F1 cars, and a smaller plant in England to use as a base for the F1 team.
I agree that it remains to be seen if GM is willing to fully support and fund a hundred million dollar annual budget for an F1 team. Cadillac has steadily increased their financial and technical support of racing every year since the mid 2000’s, when they first started racing CTS-V’s in the SCCA World Challenge Series. GM has been trying to build their world market for their US brands (especially Cadillac and Corvette) for a few years now, and there is no more popular race series in the world, then F1. The fact that Ford is also rumored to be looking at a future F1 team, surely influenced GM’s decision.
The Audi effort would a factory team if they did anything more.
I I have seen the Renault rumors too. It could happen but so few ties.
Yes Andretti built a $200 to 300 million dollar shop in Indy had will have a second shop likely England. The English shop will be the race shop the Indy will be more a factory. I expect it will be used for Indy too.
Also now Andretti is pushing for a NASCAR team again. They had ties in the past to Dodge that fell through and talks with VW.
Could they get a Chevy team in NASCAR with this deal? Or even Honda?
There is a lot on the table but this still may not work out. It has a better chance now with the American market in play with three races. But a lot still needs to happen.
I was not aware about the chassis. I have not followed F1 that close of late. I used to watch it a lot but tired of the drama. I miss the Senna days.
I have two thoughts:
1. GM has already proven a committed effort in racing with Corvette Racing in IMSA and the WEC, and their Cadillac DPI and now LMDH growth.
2. I’m personally thrilled to see an American team in F1, especially after hearing how opposed the competition is. America’s always rivaled European manufacturers for racing (Corvette, the poor man’s Porsche). There’s something oddly American about proving they belong in the world.
There’s already an American team in F1 (Haas). Granted, they’re awful.
They are not American cars, engines or driver.
At least that is what they get hit with.
Fair point. Will have to see how committed Cadillac is with this.
Yep. they weren’t called “the White Ferrari ” for nothing last year.
And Haas was allowed in when Bernie was in danger of not being able to supply the 20 car minimum field he promised.
I’m not sure that the Dallara chassis is up to snuff. I suppose it’s a cheaper alternative than building your own but………….
The trouble is that the money the spent in IMSA would only last a month in F1.
GM has had real commitment issues with Cadillac and it has really harmed them.
The twin turbo V8 was a good example. JDN had Cadillac in a good place and they pulled the rug.
If the economy remains tough this could be a problem for racing in general.
My feeling is Cadillac is getting in now while they have a shot. At some point EV is coming in and they want to be here for that.
But that could be far out like 2035 if then.
gm wants to “pump up” Cadillac in Europe as a way to try and sell EV’s there. It’s a very long shot at best. Go ask Gene Haas, he’s been in F1 since 2016 and has zero wins and zero podium finishes. He has spent a bundle and has very little to show for it.
Read the announcement again. Cadillac is not joining as a manufacturer. They are a badge sponsor no different than a soda company. Some notes about unspecific engineering help, but nothing really. Half baked commitment typical of GM
Not really.
They have to make a move now to join the series but have no engine package that can be ready by 2026. So initially they will likely use a Honda and then transition to their own engines.
In the past they would go in with North starts to Lemans that just were not ready and durable in chassis that were never sorted before they left.
Today the LMP cars are using the Chevy engines and Dallara chassis and have proven durable and winning.
They should start with a competitive package and know what to do by the time they get to their own engine.
Keep in mind Andretti also will be in a major learning curve. This is not as easy as a already difficult Indy Car.
obviously disagree. If they are going to develop and manufacture power units they would say that. F1 is hugely expensive. That said, i would prefer GM spend money here than another nickel on Nascar.
Mark Ruess did say that they would start with a supplier engine and then develop their own power plants moving forward.
It actually is a smart move as with a proven engine package they can already get the chassis right and then bring in their engine when it is right and not have to work on a chassis and engine at the same time.
I would reference all here to look back at the Toyota F1 effort. Toyota was in for a number of years and had Zero wins.
The trick to F1 is not to be stubborn and to have deep pockets. You have to learn to do things their way or you will never succeed.
Michael Andretti learned this the hard way when it made his F1 starts. He should have lived in Europe but he would jump the Concorde as soon as the race was over.
I expect the team drivers will live in Europe and will be in shop over there. The shop in Indy will be more for fabrication and for development. It is a similar set up to what Ferrari does with the factory in Italy and the race shop in England.
Word is Herta may drive for another team if he gets a super license to learn the tracks and to learn how to operate in the series. Then he will jump to Cadillac once they start racing.
I think from what Mario knows and what they learned from Michael attempt they will correct their mistakes.
Now GM when they start to bring in their own power plants they need to learn from the others and not get to fancy. GM has and used some of the most advanced tech in racing but too often it was too early for it’s time. The Jim Hall cars in the 60’s had the best aero of any car but it was a problem as they kept trying to get more and more advanced to the point it was not reliable. They were fast but never finished. Same on the Corvette GTP. The Turbo V6 was fast but broke often.
GM needs to learn to be fast but durable. I would love to see Pratt and Miller jump in and help in this effort as they always have show how to win races by finishing.
Anyways just because GM has deep pockets and more tech than Einstein does not mean they will win. Andretti needs to steal staff from other top teams and use them to get the program right.
Honda is no longer producing F1 PUs. Red Bull is building their own.
Read Racer web site and the story
DEBUNKING A NONSENSE RED BULL-HONDA F1 ENGINE CONSPIRACY
Dec 20 2022
It is involved but Honda is still there.
Uh-Huh, just like I predicted they would do when the announcement was first made. Typical F1 ! Wondering if they will allow the rumored Porsche or Audi entries that may be more than just engine providers ?
Cadillac in F1? No thanks! Ten teams are enough anyway.
totally agree. the lapping of cars at end of race is a pain. add in more cars and it is worse.
More strong teams will move the passing to the front. But the few teams that can pass don’t want that to happen.
F1 is afraid of Cadillac beatin them all all up!! European pussies!!
Why not just buy the Haas team. There’s your automatic entry into F1
I believe that’s been tried, but it was before the GM partnership was announced.
Hass was developed with Russian Olligarchs money, just sayin.
F1 is the worst uncompetitive circus out there. Whoever that has had the opportunity to race in a car race (I had) knows that one is putting ownself is at risk (not a bloodsport like McQueens quote in LeMans movie) so you really want to do your best but on top of that you want to win, just like in any other sport (Lombardi: if winning is not important, why keep the score?) so receiving ridiculous orders of “let him pass you”, is the most frustrating thing that can happen. And it only happens in F1.
NASCAR owners like Rick Hendrick or coach Gibbs have 4 teams each and they don’t go and order one driver to let the other pass; and that is the reason why NASCAR has all public at the edge of their seats every race until the end. We do not know who will win the next Sunday. In F1 is one of six. So, risking your life knowing that there is not a chance to win?
While WEC and IMSA have worked towards bringing more teams to the party with less expenses, F1 is going complete opposite.
Have you seen WTCC, TCR, eTCR races? can’t get better than that. DTM? Rally Cross?
I have been to two F1 races. I thought they were pretty boring, not very competitive. Who cares? Yawn …..
Its basically the automotive equivalent of soccer, the rest of the world seems to go nuts about it but Americans are kinda like….meh.