FORMULA 1
The General Motors team debuts on the grid in 2026
Published on November 27, 2024 at 1:26 pm
cADILL Credit: Disclosure I General Motors
Formula 1 arrives with surprising news in 2026: General Motors will enter the category’s grid under the name GM/Cadillac, becoming the 11th team in the elite of motorsport. The entry was announced last Monday (25), placing the American brand in the future of F1.
And it’s not just racing – General Motors will also start supplying engines from the 2028 season onwards. Until then, the engines used will be from Ferrari, according to the Associated Press (AP).
The news moved the entire global motorsport community, and excited fans even more for the future of the tournament. “General Motors is a gigantic global brand and is working with incredible partners,” praised the president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), Mohammed bin Sulayem.
“I support all efforts made by the FIA, Formula 1, GM and the team to maintain dialogue and work until agreement in principle is possible to progress this entry and bring a GM/Cadillac team to the grid in 2026. All The parties will continue to work together to ensure the process continues smoothly.”
For Greg Maffei, president and CEO of Liberty Media, the group that runs Formula 1, the arrival of the new team means that the grid will grow in the United States: “With the plans for Formula 1 to continue growing in the USA, we have always believed that welcoming an impressive brand like GM/Cadillac to the grid and GM as a future engine supplier could bring additional value and interest to the sport.”
Currently, the United States is represented by Haas in Formula 1, but the debuting team in 2016 has never won any race.
But how did Cadillac get into the game?
However, other Formula 1 officials disagreed, such as the category’s CEO Stefano Domenicali, who said he would not change his mind about not including new teams. Still, the teams believed in their chance.
According to Sulayem’s words, the American teams Cadillac and Andretti came together to try for a place. Currently, Andretti is headed by former Formula 1 driver Michael Andretti, and competes in Formula Indy and Formula E.
The next update was negative – in January this year, Andretti’s candidacy was rejected as it brought no benefits to Formula 1, only to the team in question.
Everything changed when, last Monday, Domenicali changed his mind, stating that the entry of a new team demonstrates the evolution of the sport. With this, the arrival of Cadillac was announced, for the first season with more than ten teams in more than ten years.
Since 2016, the only year in which Manor, from England, competed in F1, the grid has had just 20 cars.
