General Motors will enter Formula One racing in 2026. F1 has confirmed that it has secured an agreement in principle with General Motors to bring an eleventh team to the grid in 2026. They will enter the grid under the Cadillac brand.

The GM’s effort to enter the grid appeared to be dead just months ago after being headed by Andretti Global, but it has now sped to becoming a fully-fledged squad for the following season.

F1 initially rejected an Andretti-GM deal, closing the door on that concept until 2028. Since 2017, the sport has featured ten teams on the grid, and this looks likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

Formula 1 announced that General Motors had “achieved operational milestones and made clear their commitment to brand the eleventh team GM/Cadillac.” According to the F1 news release, GM has also committed to entering as a single engine supplier at a later date, but it will require a customer agreement with an existing manufacturer for its debut season in 2026 and, most likely, in 2027.

Originally marketed as an Andretti bid supported by GM, the Andretti name did not appear in F1’s Cadillac news release and has basically been sidelined in favour of GM having sole control. Much of this is due to events that have occurred behind the scenes.

Significant financial backing from General Motors and the introduction of a brand as strong as Cadillac is as much as the sport could ask for. It’s a similar case with Audi, which is in the process of taking over the Sauber team for 2026: the German manufacturer has committed completely to the project, including supplying its own engines. Even if Cadillac is slow to become competitive — which is the paddock consensus about Audi’s chances, too — having that name in the sport is a positive for all involved, especially when it comes with that kind of financial commitment to the project.

By the end of the decade, Cadillac will be fully operational. In the short run, it will rely on a customer engine arrangement with an existing manufacturer, the name of which is unknown, but Formula 1 is clearly confident that the squad created thus far will be competitive by 2026.

Much of the work and legacy of the Andretti team will go on. Mario Andretti, America’s last Formula One winner and the father of business leader Michael, will join the Cadillac team as a director.

The final area of the major league motorsports industry that General Motors had not yet entered was is Formula One. Since then, 18 Indianapolis 500s have been won by GM-powered vehicles, including seven of the last 12 and five under the now-defunct Oldsmobile brand. General Motors has an unrivaled NASCAR history, with 1,199 Cup Series victories split between Chevy, Buick, and the now-defunct Olds and Pontiac brands. Additionally, Chevrolet has won 43 NASCAR manufacturer’s titles, which is two and a half times as many as its next competitor, Ford. Chevy alone holds 28 Manufacturers Cups in NHRA drag racing.

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