There will be a Cadillac powered Andretti car on the Formula 1 grid in the future.
Sure, Formula One Group still has not officially approved the entry – after the FIA approved the Andretti proposal last month and General Motors officially signed on for 2028 on Nov. 14 – and they are not inclined to, as the teams almost unilaterally agree that they do not want an 11th team on the grid.
The reasons why are ever-changing, with the goalposts moving. First, Andretti was unlikely to be supported by the teams due to being a customer team. After Andretti lured GM over to partner up with them, then it became “well, all they’d be doing is slapping a Cadillac sticker over a Renault logo.”
Now General Motors has made it clear cut that they will be producing engines for the team. The new line of excuses will be heard in team principal Q&A’s on media day this week for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, I’m sure.
The teams do not have literal control or a vote on if Andretti can join the grid, but with a new Concorde Agreement coming in 2026, they do have leverage over both the FIA and FOM.
They can try so hard, and get so far in their opposition to Andretti. But in the end, it doesn’t even matter.
It would be far too damaging PR-wise for F1 to outright to deny Andretti a spot on the grid. Every poll I have seen so far online have come up with Andretti having overwhelming support, even before the full-throated GM endorsement this week.
Would Andretti Cadillac be worth more to F1 than whatever money they would take from teams by taking a slice of their pie? Yes, it would, before even remembering that Ford’s involvement with Red Bull Power Trains means that the two American giants will make the F1 grid the latest site of their never ending war.
The reality is that F1 has grown in the last few years. There is room for an 11th team on the grid. The grid has arguably never been as close as it is now, with how close and varied qualifying has become this year. This is may be the first year since round qualifying started that every team has a reasonable shot to get into Q3 any week.
It would…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at …