Why does car giant GM suddenly want to be in F1? · RaceFans

It may not have surprised many that, once FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem announced he would begin a process to bring new teams into Formula 1, the Andretti Group would be the first to confirm their interest.

But the revelation yesterday that they intend to bring General Motors brand Cadillac with them caught many by surprise. The backing of the car-making giant may prove the ingredient which makes Andretti’s bid irresistible.

None of the four current General Motors brands – Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC and Buick – have been seen in F1 before. GM did not need the world of grand prix racing to become one of the ‘big three’ American carmakers with annual revenues north of $127 billion (£107bn).

Last year began with the surprising news that GM was no longer America’s top-selling manufacturer of cars – a position it had held since 1931. But the day before Andretti’s announcement GM confirmed it had shifted 2.27 million vehicles in the US over 2022, putting it back on top of the pile.

So why has it apparently decided it needs F1 to ensure it continues shifting vehicles in the numbers it needs to? After all the rival which temporarily displaced it from the top spot, Toyota, cannot exactly point to a long and successful F1 heritage.

GM president Mark Reuss referred to the “growing global appeal” of F1 in yesterday’s announcement. There is plenty of evidence of that, including rising television viewership and sold-out races.

Much of F1’s growth is happening in GM’s backyard. Entering its sixth year of US ownership, the Liberty Media-run series has successfully courted American interest by relocating race coverage to ESPN, launching the Netflix series Drive to Survive and adding further US rounds in Miami and, from this year, Las Vegas.

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Some drivers have already cultivated strong American followings, notably Lewis Hamilton and DTS poster-boy Daniel Ricciardo, the latter an obvious hiring target if Andretti’s team gets the green light for 2026. The series has its first full-time US racer for 15 years in Logan Sargeant this season.

Like its rival carmakers, GM faces the challenge of making the shift to electric vehicle production while the majority of its sales still come from fossil fuel-burners. It aims to have a fully electric vehicle line-up by 2035, but is finding uptake…