Formula 1 expected to expand grid to 11 teams as early as next week for Cadillac to enter in 2026

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Formula 1 is expected to approve grid expansion for an 11th team originally started by Michael Andretti as early as next week, The Associated Press has learned.

The team will be called Cadillac F1 and powered by Ferrari engines when it enters the sport in 2026. General Motors is expected to complete its own Cadillac power unit ahead of the 2028 season.

Multiple industry insiders spoke to the AP about the grid expansion on condition of anonymity because an announcement ahead of Saturday night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix could potentially steal the spotlight from the showcase event on the F1 calendar.

The delayed decision to expand the grid for the Andretti-started entry is a reversal for F1, which initially denied the application despite approval from F1 sanctioning body FIA. The existing 10 teams, who have no voice in the matter, have largely opposed expansion because of the dilution in prize money and the billions of dollars they’ve already invested in the series.

The teams also contended that Andretti should buy a team rather than expanding the grid. No teams have marketed themselves for sale, however, and Andretti in 2020 already tried to close a deal that would have taken over the existing Sauber team.

The entire situation began to change when Andretti’s father, 1978 F1 champion Mario Andretti, went to Washington, D.C., earlier this year to lobby for support for the Andretti Global effort. That launched a Department of Justice investigation into why Colorado-based Liberty Media, the commercial rights holder of F1, was denying the American team an entry.

The DOJ situation wasn’t helped when Luca de Meo, the CEO of Renault, said in October he refused to sell the Alpine F1 team because it was such a prized company possession and he referred to F1 as a “closed club” that made it a very lucrative seller market.

The DOJ as part of the discovery phase of its investigation is also believed to have a copy of a WhatsApp group chat among team principals that could have damning statements against the Andretti bid.

The Las Vegas race marks the third and final stop this year for F1 in the United States, where the series has exploded in popularity over the last five years. The three U.S. stops — Miami; Austin, Texas; and Las Vegas — are more than any other country.

Another significant change to the acceptance was Michael Andretti’s decision in September to take a smaller role within his namesake organization and turn over controlling interest to new team majority owners Dan Towriss and Mark Walter, the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Although the Andretti Global name is expected to remain in IndyCar, it will be dropped from the F1 team as Cadillac plans to make it a proper manufacturer-driven organization. F1 had always said from its initial denial of the Andretti application it would revisit the expansion request when General Motors was prepared to take on a larger role.

Mario Andretti will have an ambassador role with the F1 team, but Michael Andretti will be largely sidelined, AP has learned. Michael Andretti ran 13 F1 races in an abbreviated 1993 season and many believe F1’s snub of his application was over lingering resentment toward the former driver.

He refused to move to Europe that year and commuted from the U.S. in which many believe was not a fully focused effort in F1. He was back racing in America the next year.

Another wrinkle to the more than three-year saga is the impending resignation of Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, who was largely believed to be one of the biggest opponents of the Andretti entry. Maffei said last week he’d step down at the end of the year but has been in Las Vegas all weekend as the event is considered the showpiece of Liberty’s portfolio.

Towriss and General Motors executives also have a large presence in Las Vegas this weekend but have declined to speak on the record because of the sensitivity of the situation. The GM executives are guests of the FIA, which has given GM its full support from president Mohammed Ben Sulayem since its plans were announced.

The FIA said at the time that Michael Andretti’s application was the only one of seven applicants to meet all required criteria to expand F1’s current grid.

The pushback came only from F1, Formula One Management and the majority of the 10 existing teams, most of whom openly wondered what additive Michael Andretti could bring to a series already booming in popularity and financial success globally.

In fact, F1’s initial denial of the Andretti application read extremely personal in that F1 informed the Andretti family it did not believe it could field a competitive team; the Andretti name does not bring the value to the series that Michael Andretti believes it would; and that getting on the grid in the next two years would be a challenge Andretti has never before faced.

General Motors, on the other hand, is the top-selling manufacturer in the United States and its addition has always been welcomed by all current F1 participants. In fact, F1 at one point asked GM to find another team to partner with besides Andretti. GM refused.

There is only one American team on the current F1 grid — owned by California businessman Gene Haas — but it is not particularly competitive and does not field American drivers. Andretti’s dream was to field a truly American team with American drivers.

Despite the denial of his application, Andretti continued work on both building a car, a race shop in England and has a job listings board of openings for the future team. He just won’t have a role in its operations.

There’s also confusion over how involved Andretti will remain with his namesake IndyCar team. IndyCar recently came to an agreement on charters for its participants and the final page of the agreement, a copy of which was obtained by AP, includes a disclosures page in which anyone with a controlling interest in the teams must be listed with what percentage of the organization they own.

The copy obtained by AP had the ownership stakes redacted, but an owner only had to be listed if they held more than 10%. Towriss signed the Andretti charter agreements.

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing