It’s official. General Motors’s Cadillac F1 Team will be the 11th team competing with the next-generation Formula 1 cars in 2026. The FIA and Formula One Management announced the approval based on GM’s meeting all required terms for membership. Last November, the FIA and F1 gave GM/Cadillac conditional approval, but now it’s real.
Why increase the Formula 1 series to more than 10 teams
All F1 teams sign the Conorde Agreement, a contract between the FIA, Formula One Group, and the F1 teams. This document holds teams responsible for competing in the series for the length of the agreement, which is in effect for the 2021 through 2025 seasons.
The Concorde Agreement includes fees paid to the Formula One Group and the awards and compensation paid to the teams at the end of the season.
There are ten F1 teams in the 2025 season. The Concorde Agreement contract allows up to 12 teams. If an 11th or 12th team is approved, as with GM/Cadillac, it must pay a $200 million fee divided between the existing teams. That fee, called a nondilution fee, is symbolic compensation the new team pays because there will be more teams to share the financial payouts.
Highlights of the GM Cadillac F1 Team
The Cadillac F1 Team is joining Formula 1 as a works team, which means it will supply its powertrains and be able to supply engines to other teams. Cadillac will use Ferrari engines and transmissions starting in 2026, but it will become an engine supplier by 2030.
General Motors and TWG Motorsports, a motorsports management and operations company partnering with GM, have formed a new company, GM Performance Power Units LLC to develop the powertrains for the Cadillac team.
Graeme Lowdon, formerly the Sporting Director of Marussa, is the Team Principal of the GM Cadillac F1 Team. No drivers have been signed, but that will undoubtedly by a hot topic during the 2025 F1 season,.
