FOM’s U-turn on 11th team caught bosses “a little bit by surprise”

Formula 1 team bosses say they were surprised by the series’ decision to allow Cadillac to enter the championship in 2026.

On Monday Formula One Management announced it had reached an agreement in principle for Cadillac to join the series in 2026. Cadillac has taken over the entry bid launched by Andretti last year which FOM turned down in January.

The news the decision had been reversed “came a little bit by surprise, or was a little bit unexpected,” admitted Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack. “I do not have so much information about it, to be honest.

“So I think we have to trust F1 there, and the FIA, on how this is going to go. I don’t know about what payments are being made or have to be made, I think this will have to be defined going forward.”

Under F1’s Concorde Agreement, any new entrants must pay an “anti-dilution fee” of $200 million. However that agreement expires at the end of next year and as Cadillac will arrive in 2026 it is not clear what they will have to pay.

Williams team principal James Vowles said the amount Cadillac owner General Motors will have to pay will be defined in the next agreement.

“First of all, it’s a sign of how well the sport is doing that we have a major [original equipment manufacturer] like GM joining us. I think it’s just a sign of the growth, a sign of where Formula 1 is going.

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“I don’t think there’s actually any defined amount of dilution fee. I think that’s a part of a ‘26 Concorde, which hasn’t been ratified at this point.

“What I’ve said all the way through is it will have financial loss for existing teams. What we have to do now is grow the sport sufficiently and [we] need to be aware of that in order to make things good for everyone.”

The current 10 teams, two of which are owned by soft drink producer Red Bull, had no prior indication FOM was about to reverse its position on adding a new team, said Vowles. Although FOM faced the threat of an investigation by the United States Department of Justice over its refusal to accept Andretti’s bid, Vowles believes FOM were persuaded to accept the entry because of GM’s increased involvement in the project.

“We found out pretty much when you found out with the same news,” he told media yesterday. “It isn’t the same proposition that was there before in as much as there’s a serious commitment and amount of investment going behind it. More than that, we know no more than you do.”

RB team principal Laurent Mekies said “it’s a fantastic sign for the sport” that GM has chosen to enter F1 for the first time. “It’s going to be pretty much all car manufacturers probably, except for Williams and us. Even Haas is also linked to a car manufacturer now.

“So it’s a battle of giants, and it’s another sign that the sport is going towards the direction of a battle of giants. And the details of the financials, they are still under discussion, and hopefully they become small in the big pictures of where the sport can go for its next level.”

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