Oh, so now GM is a good thing for F1?

Formula 1 has agreed to a deal in principle with General Motors and their Cadillac brand as the 11th team on the grid for 2026. It’s an interesting twist in the Andretti saga with Michael Andretti and Liberty Media’s Greg Maffei both stepping down from their roles.

Much was made about the reported issues between Maffei and Andretti but what may have been a personal conflict seems to have been resolved with the departure of both individuals and the lure of an American manufacturer was too large to ignore.

Such an interesting battle of words with most teams suggesting that Andretti had not shown how they would increase F1’s revenue or what they would bring to the sport. This betrayed simple logic for fans as they know the Andretti brand and the size of General Motors so they struggled to understand why the teams and F1 would continue to suggest that the Andretti and GM deal wasn’t a net positive for the sport whereas Haas brought nowhere near the panache and investment that these two would.

What fans found out, during Michael Andretti’s departure, was there may have been a personal battle between Maffei, team bosses and Andretti himself. Michael’s withdraw from Andretti Global’s F1 effort and Maffei’s departure from Liberty seems to have opened the opportunity again, which we surmised on the podcast.

Interestingly the deal is muted about Andretti with news reports even playing down the Andretti F1 programs involvement in favor of trumpeting the GM and Cadillac brand and what a great deal for F1 it will be. To be honest, it’s insulting to berate Andretti and GM for months as not bringing anything to the party and now crowing about GM’s arrival in F1 and what a big deal it will be.

In a statement on Monday, F1 confirmed the deal:

“With Formula 1’s continued growth plans in the US, we have always believed that welcoming an impressive US brand like GM/Cadillac to the grid and GM as a future power unit supplier could bring additional value and interest to the sport,” said Liberty Media CEO and president Greg Maffei.

“We credit the leadership of General Motors and their partners with significant progress in their readiness to enter Formula 1. We are excited to move forward with the application process for the GM/Cadillac team to enter the Championship in 2026.”

GM’s president Mark Reuss said:

“As the pinnacle of motorsports, F1 demands boundary-pushing innovation and excellence. It’s an honour for General Motors and Cadillac to join the world’s premier racing series, and we’re committed to competing with passion and integrity to elevate the sport for race fans around the world. This is a global stage for us to demonstrate GM’s engineering expertise and technology leadership at an entirely new level.”

Just a few months ago, F1 was publicly doubting the Andretti Global/GM deal was really bringing anything to the table other than slicing the prize money even more between teams. All this time spent telling us the sky was green when everyone knew it was blue. It’s offensive and belittles your customers. Better to say that the right agreement wasn’t reached but they would continue to discuss and leave it at that. How to turn a pissing match between CEO’s into a communication program that betrays the intelligence of your customers…there might be a lesson to be learned here.

Welcome to the party GM, Let’s hope both you and Ford can have a successful F1 future. It’s good to see you in the sport.