Cadillac F1 receives approval to enter global series as expanded 11th team in 2026

Cadillac’s Formula 1 team received official approval Friday to join the grid in 2026 and its owners insist the team will be ready to compete.

Although the grid expansion was approved last November, it was not until Friday that governing body FIA and Formula One Management said the Cadillac F1 effort meets all the requirements to become the 11th team in the series next season.

“I am proud to lead the Federation in this progressive step for the championship,” FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said in a statement, who called adding an 11th team “a milestone” and a “transformative moment.”

“GM/Cadillac brings fresh energy, aligning with the new FIA 2026 regulations and ushering in an exciting era for the sport.”

The team is owned by General Motors and TWG Motorsports, an arm of the larger TWG Global group owned by co-chairs Mark Walter and Thomas Tull. TWG Global has controlling interest in the Los Angeles Dodgers, Premier League club Chelsea, the Professional Women’s Hockey League, as well as stakes in the Los Angeles Lakers and other ventures.

TWG Motorsports is also the majority owner of Andretti Global, which competes in IndyCar, Indy NXT and Formula E; NASCAR team Spire Motorsports; the two-car IMSA sports car GTP program fielded by Wayne Taylor Racing; and a stake in Walkinshaw Andretti United, the Bathurst 1000-winning race team competing in Australia’s Supercars Championship.

“The Cadillac Formula 1 Team’s presence in the paddock will inspire future competitors and fans,” said Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1. “Their entry strengthens our mission to push motorsport’s boundaries at the highest level. As we said in November, the commitment by General Motors to bring a Cadillac team to Formula 1 was an important and positive demonstration of the evolution of our sport.”

Cadillac F1 will be the second American-owned team on the grid, joining Haas F1, which is owned by California businessman Gene Haas. The Haas program does not have an American driver or a partnership with an American manufacturer, but it is sponsored by MoneyGram.

Cadillac F1 anticipates being distinctively American with its partnership with General Motors and the possibility of IndyCar driver Colton Herta, a California native, in the two-car lineup. It comes at a time when F1 has three races in the United States — in Miami, Austin, Texas, and Las Vegas — and teams are battling for sponsorship from American companies as the global series gains popularity in the U.S.

It took more than four years to get the project approved by FOM, despite the backing of the FIA and Ben Sulayem. At issue was an apparent breakdown in any relationship between F1 and Michael Andretti, who spent part of one season as an F1 driver and has never been warmly embraced in the European series.

But Andretti sold controlling interest of his motorsports ventures to Dan Towriss late last year and is no longer involved in the project. That helped TWG and Cadillac get the F1 bid approved.

“For the past years, we have worked hand in hand with GM, to lay a robust foundation for an extraordinary F1 entry,” said Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports. “Now, with 2026 in our sights, we’re accelerating our efforts — expanding our facilities, refining cutting-edge technologies and continuing to assemble top-tier talent.”

Cadillac’s powertrains will not be ready for some time and the team will lease engines from Ferrari until General Motors has a product ready to compete. The powertrains will be built in a facility on the North Carolina campus of Hendrick Motorsports in Concord, while the F1 program will be run from a new facility being built in Indiana and a second factory in Silverstone, England.

“We’re thrilled the Cadillac Formula 1 Team is official, as the team has been accelerating its work,” General Motors President Mark Reuss said. “We’re incredibly grateful for the support from the FIA and Formula 1 leadership for us and for our partners at TWG. The excitement only grows as we get closer to showcasing GM’s engineering expertise on the prestigious global stage of F1.”

Towriss told The Associated Press that Cadillac F1 already has a 2026 car built that has been to the wind tunnel and work continues at a rapid pace. The team is also hiring at a head-spinning rate with motorsports and Formula 1 team executive Graeme Lowdon named team principal, and industry veteran Russ O’Blenes named CEO of TWG GM Performance Power Units — a new company that aims to make Cadillac a full-works team that builds both the chassis and power units.

TWG Motorsports has more than 300 employees working on aerodynamics, chassis and component development, as well as software and vehicle dynamics simulation.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the effort put in by the entire Cadillac Formula 1 Team. This announcement is the next step in getting on the grid and continues our efforts towards building a full-works team,” Lowdown said. “Through the long and thorough application process, we have never lost pace in our planning or our belief in the mission. We can’t wait to go racing and give fans a new team to cheer for.”

Towriss will not tip his hand at a possible driver lineup, but those mentioned for the two seats include Herta, who must finish fourth or higher in the IndyCar standings this season to earn the Super License required to compete in F1. Herta last weekend surprised many when he said he wasn’t even sure he wanted the seat.

Other drivers mentioned as candidates for the second seat are Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, all of whom were on the F1 grid last season but don’t have seats for 2025.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing