Official: Cadillac enters Formula 1
Official: Cadillac enters Formula 1
Official: Cadillac enters Formula 1
Importantly, as an 11th team. Pretty exciting to see what they can do with the new regulations
Veeeery interesting how they went from "noooo 100% no they can fuck themselves" to "yes yes its okay" in some weeks. Suuuure thing it's only coincidence that the DOJ started the investigation and allegedly found the group chat of the team chefs.
Finally. It needed to happen.
ArsTechnica has a writeup on that drama. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/11/cadillac-f1-will-be-able-to-race-from-2026-despite-previous-snub/
Its good that there's a new team coming in. But the only thing I know about Cadillac's as a non-USAian is they are lolloping barges.
Cadillac also produces cars like this for IMSA (GTP class) & WEC (Hypercar class).
In addition to things like their competitive LMDh cars, they also have their V-Series performance road cars. The CT5-V Blackwing is the most well known.
To be fair, it's a GM team not technically a "Cadillac" team. GM has a long history in racing including multiple GT class wins at Le Mans.
P.S. HOT TAKE - GM makes the best "Drivers Cars" of act company over the last decade and I'll take that opinion to my grave lol
More cars on the grid - great. More drivers, more competition.
FUCK YEAH!
@UrPartnerInCrime @formula1 Really? Why do you like this development?
All it took to get Andretti in was for Andretti to step aside. F1 still thought either under Mario or Michael, Andretti wasn't as synonymous with F1 as American luxury sedans and SUVs.
I guess he'll still play a big role.
The F1 press release is pretty transparent on that part:
"Over the course of this year, they have achieved operational milestones and made clear their commitment to brand the eleventh team GM/Cadillac, and that GM will enter as an engine supplier at a later time. Formula 1 is therefore pleased to move forward with this application process and will provide further updates in due course."
They are straight up saying that they approved the bid because of the team's branding being Cadillac and not Andretti. Which is a really weird statement IMO - do they actually have brand research numbers saying that Cadillac as a brand "brings more value"? Or are they really petty about not wanting the Andretti name in F1? Imo it's even possible that one of the Andrettis did something that isn't public and FOM is afraid that if it comes out it might taint the brand image of F1 if there is an Andretti team.
All it took to get Andretti in was for Andretti to step aside.
... and suddenly all stated objections (like being an engine customer for the first couple of years) don't matter. Almost as if FOM lied.
Now imagine if they announce that Cadillac will use Viry engines for 2026 and 2027 😅
They’ll be using Ferrari engines for 26-27:
GM's decision to throw Cadillac's hat into the ring came with the caveat that its powertrain wouldn't be ready until 2028—two years after it actually wants to enter the sport. That means for 2026 and 2027, Cadillac F1 will use customer engines from another manufacturer, in this case Ferrari. From 2028, we can expect a GM-designed V6 hybrid under Cadillac F1's engine covers.
I've seen a few news outlets state this, but not found an official statement regarding their engine supplier.
Finally.
I believe I speak for a lot of us when I say...
HELL YEAH!