I don't think Mario would have involved himself or his name if Michael and the Andretti brand isn't added back into the program early next year. Then it is no different than the name changes at Aston Martin, Sauber, Red Bull, Alpine, Jaguar, Honda, etc., etc.
He was positive and accepting, but made it clear the other teams shouldn’t/wouldn’t fund a new team entry. He also said it would help F1 by having one of the large American OEMs in competition.
So, Cadillac succeeded where Andretti failed. It looks like the FIA and Liberty wanted to deal only with a big manufacturer, and not a team owner. Adding Cadillac after Audi, Mercedes, Ford, and Honda brings more prestige to F1 than an independent team entry. Perhaps it brings the garantee of longer commitment, and stronger financial backing. It will be interesting to watch the birth and development of a completely new team.
From F1 Chronicle Cadillac F1, the new-for-2026 Formula 1 team project, will reportedly need to pay $450 million alone in the form of an anti-dilution fee. After the original FIA-approved Andretti-Cadillac bid was blocked by F1 owner Liberty Media, a new deal involving the dropping of the Andretti brand and increased involvement from General Motors means 'Cadillac F1' will debut in 2026. Michael Andretti has stepped back from the project, but the cars will be designed at the new Andretti Global facility at Silverstone, with Andretti's legendary father Mario Andretti involved as a non-executive advisor. When asked by NBC News if Mario's role will be like Niki Lauda's at Mercedes, the 1978 confirmed: "Basically that. "I don't want a specific job per se, where I have to punch in every day. I don't need and want that," said Mario. "But I welcome the opportunity to definitely be part of a lot of key decisions. This is my rodeo." Initially, in 2026 and 2027 but perhaps also in 2028 as well, Cadillac F1 will need to use customer engines before a works GM power unit is ready. There were rumours the customer unit could be supplied by Honda, but 84-year-old Andretti says the "objective" is actually a deal with Ferrari. "That's not definite yet, but that's the objective. And that's the preference," he said. And although his son Michael has stepped back from direct involvement, Mario confirmed that the Cadillac F1 cars will be designed and built by Andretti Global. "The team is all in, and a lot of work has already been done, believe it or not," he said. Many believed the project was on the verge of total collapse, and that F1 were forced into a compromise deal because of US government investigations. "I could go back and bring up events and so forth, but some of it was not very pleasant, and I don't really want to talk about any of that," said Andretti. "All of that is behind us. "Everyone is happy, including my son. That's the most important part. No one is diminished or suffered." He admitted Colton Herta is an early favourite to represent America from the cockpit, and acknowledged that Valtteri Bottas and Liam Lawson enthused in Las Vegas that two extra seats in F1 is very good news. "They said it all," said Andretti. "There are more drivers available than teams at the moment. Ten teams seems a lot, but there's a lot more drivers, lot more talent out there. "From our standpoint, I think the play at the beginning would be to have one experienced driver - nationality doesn't matter - and then a young American talent. These are the objectives at the moment." Originally, the new team fee in Formula 1 was $200 million, but the existing teams - backed by F1 - have argued that it needs to be much higher in Cadillac's case to compensate for the diluted prize money pool. The BBC reports that Cadillac will need to stump up a whopping $450 million. Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko told Osterreich newspaper: "The payment that Cadillac is making is nowhere near enough to compensate for what we have invested a lot of money in over ten years." However, Marko made clear that he is otherwise not opposed to the eleventh team. "Even if the existing teams don't benefit much from it at first, a name like Cadillac with General Motors in the background is certainly an advantage," he said. #F1 #formula1 #F1News #cadillac
No you forced Andretti idiocy on the teams with no prior coordination lol. They did a good job of getting rejected all by themselves. At one point you supported the FOM stance. Please just stop talking. You are pathetic!! Ben Sulayem hails Cadillac entry as win for F1 after being sent to ‘hell and back’ The FIA president thinks Cadillac’s F1 plans are a success story after the criticism he faced for wanting new teams
The existing should never have had any say in the acceptance of any additional team, Andretti or any other. If one were to ask the current teams they would like fewer teams than the current 10, as long as they are not the eliminated team. As we all understand it, the current Concorde agreement, that every current team agreed to, provides for up to 12 teams and an anti-dilution fee of $200 mil. The Concorde also envisions that there could be 12 teams so that must mean that each track on the schedule would be able to accommodate the 2 extra teams with pit and paddock space. The teams no longer wanted to accept what they had contractually agreed to. The FOM did not want to have upset teams as they work on getting a new Concorde agreement in place. The FOM show a spine of jello when it came to telling the teams that they agreed to up to 12 teams so STFU. I do hope Mario is right when he says that this may be leading to a 12th team coming into the sport.
FOM set the policy not the teams. Thats rather obvious. GM or whoever/whatever this will be wont be paying 200 but far more as the teams position was clear that wasnt enough given what money the current team would give up in return for them possibly being on the grid before 2026. Apparently FOM was in agreement, hence the initial rejection. Again MB-Useless didnt even consult with FOM about the new team to begin with so you get the mess the initial plan yielded. Additionally there is logistics and configuration issues at circuits to even support a new team. This is somewhat complex and clearly MORE time was needed for it to be sorted. That seems workable now and Michael has been removed as the idiot that he was, acting as if he was to be granted this by his name etc. Even before the decision was made by the FIA, he had done quite a bit to damage the effort all by himself with respect to the other teams. Lesson - dont upset the other club members when seeking admission. He has about 0 emotional intelligence. He was just acting as the entitled emotional baby he has always been. He is clearly not Mario. Michael assumed he was on the grid or would be on his timeline with his personal advocate, MBS walking him around in the paddock as if he was already in the club. Pathetic and avoidable this all was. Blame is clearly on the FIA. Michael even stated in the press he understood the teams position and he would most likely do the same. SO he has ZERO to say about anything given that LOL. You also assume the Concorde when signed had all the new circuits now since signing, growth in team values, COVID etc etc. It was a loosely defined agreement and clearly FOM were granted veto rights from the FIA contractually! MBS or the FIA didnt take them to court etc over the rejection either. SO that is the actual contract in action with respect to new team inclusion. You do realize the teams are also not pleased with the Audi stipulations with respect to cost cap and salary issues yes? Its not just the 11th team in play here.
You and I clearly are 180 degrees apart on the role of the FOM and the existing teams. I see this as a contract issue. The current Concorde that all teams agree to stipulated a set dilution fee and allowed for 12 teams. There has been no public indications that these 2 items had any "unless I change my mind on the terms" or "only if we the teams agree". This should only be topics of negotiation for the next Concorde. To me, the FOM decided for whatever reason to listen to the existing teams whining and ignore how the Concorde allowed the extra 2 teams. I do not know if it is an element of the Concorde or in whatever other documents it would be in but it makes zero sense that every circuit agreement does not stipulate that they must have the ability to accommodate the maximum number of teams (12). IF one wants to change that then it is a topic for the next Concorde but the current one stands as written.
In principle you are correct. However, big money creates bad behavior. In this case they put the Concorde agreement into a drawer and closed it. It happens all the time when the existing teams are expecting a financial windfall and they outnumber the people worried about following an agreement. I'm sure someone is going to write a book about this because it was ugly. The intersection of making more money out of the US market and having a US team join just made for a horrific situation to manage. Add to that the anti-trust laws in the US and FOM walked into a legal buzzsaw. Like most solutions.....more money solves the problem and kicking objectionable players to the curb also works. I don't think Cadillac or Andretti can be successful in this adventure. Ferrari has a world class racing program and decades of experience. They finished second to McLaren in the 2024 Constructor's championship. Cadillac or GM is not a performance organization or brand. They might be willing to stroke the check for $450 million.....but that is a drop in the bucket when you consider the organization they need to build to be competitive. The only winners in this deal are the other teams and FOM.
The other winners are the extra 2 drivers, the reserve drivers, more openings for team positions (potential for pay increases and upward mobility), a new home for disgruntled Renault engine people, sellers of team branded merchandise, food and hospitality suppliers, team trailer/compound vendors. etc. More competition on who flew in on the best corporate jet. I agree that Cadillac is going to wait a long while before they are seeing podiums. But there remains the possibility of making another team look poorly as they might outperform an existing back marker. That will keep PR very types busy as they make excuses. The other thing that has some appearance of happening is a 12th team. 2 more seats and all the rest.
The fact that the entry fee has been raised to £450 millions will make a few people think twice before applying for the 12th position.
