Cadillac given green light for 2026 F1 entry

Cadillac’s bid to join Formula 1 has been approved by the sport’s bosses, expanding the grid to 11 teams from 2026.

The new Cadillac Formula 1 team will be run by TWG Motorsport and General Motors.

The American car giant has long sought to secure a place on the F1 grid, but its previous efforts to do so as part of a project run by Michael Andretti was rejected by F1 bosses.

Both F1 and the FIA, motorsport’s governing body, have now approved the new project to join the grid for the 2026 season.

GM president Mark Reuss said he was “thrilled” the entry had been approved, citing the change to showcase “GM's engineering expertise on the prestigious global stage of F1”.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said that “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".

The new team will eventually build and runs its own V6 hybrid power units, likely from 2028, but will initially use customer Ferrari engines.

The new F1 team has its roots in the previoulsy proposed Andretti Cadillac operation.

Michael Andretti stepped back from the day-to-day running of his Andretti Global outfit and handed a controlling interest to TWG Global, which has a controlling interest in Chelsea FC, among other major sports clubs.

TWG Motorsport was created to house all of the firm’s motorsport interests, which also includes Nascar and endurance racing teams.

Briton Graeme Lowdon, who previously headed the Virgin/Marussia F1 team, will serve as principal for the Cadillac team, which will have operations in both the US and UK.

Cadillac described the outfit as being “a distinctly American team with unique attributes”.

The new team entering F1 in 2026 lines up with a major overhaul of the technical regulations, which should put it at less of a disadvantage.

Audi will also make its debut on the grid next year, rebranding the Sauber team it owns and beginning to use its own engines.

That means that by 2028 there could potentially be six manufacturer engine programmes: Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG, Red Bull-Ford, Honda, Audi and GM.