Andretti has found its entry card into Formula One — a partnership with General Motors, which wants to join the championship with its Cadillac brand.
Despite its long history and reputation in the automotive world, General Motors has never had much real connection with F1. But history will be rewritten soon as two American powerhouses plan to collaborate to enter the championship. Andretti Global and General Motors recently announced they would join hands to enter the FIA Formula One World Championship. The joint team will be known as Andretti Cadillac, and it should start racing “as soon as practical.”
Recently, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem took to Twitter to announce that he has asked his team to look into new potential teams to join the upcoming F1 seasons. This is a step toward expanding the F1 grid, which consists of 10 racing teams.
Andretti Global announced in February 2022 that it had plans for F1 operation, and since then, it has been looking for potential partnerships with existing teams. But F1 didn’t look very interested, as it has been more interested in welcoming car manufacturers. Now, though, Andretti probably found its ticket: GM’s luxury division, Cadillac. The all-American team arrives at a perfect time, as Formula 1 became much more popular in the US after the Netflix “Drive to Survive” series.
“I feel that we are well suited to be a new team for Formula 1 and can bring value to the series and our partners and excitement for the fans,” said Michael Andretti, CEO, and chairman of Andretti Global.
Right from 2022, when the company made its interest in F1 known well, it also made another important point quite clear — Andretti wanted an American driver on its side. Speculations point to Colton Herta, currently under a contract with Andretti AutoSport for IndyCar.
“We want to make this an all-American effort to ensure we have an American driver in the seat,” Andretti stated in his interview with Motorsport.com.
Last year it was also announced that Andretti was building its new headquarters in Indianapolis. Andretti Cadillac’s F1 functions will be primarily based in the US, but a support facility will operate in the UK.
Andretti AutoSport is currently involved with the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000, and Formula E. It should also be noted that the last time GM and Andretti joined hands, the duo won the driver, team, and manufacturer titles in the NTT IndyCar Series in 2012.
As for the situation with FIA, things are still quite at an impasse. The governing body has not made any clear instructions for adding new teams to F1. Thus, Andretti Cadillac will have to wait before knowing if it gets approval. At the same time, Andretti says that the duo would take some time before they join the grid. He added that they would be ready when it “makes sense to be on track.”
The last time a new team joined F1 was in 2016 when Haas entered the grid. With questions of financial impact coming into play, only two existing teams have voiced their support for Andretti’s debut into the business.
