General Motors’ role in Andretti Cadillac’s F1 participation plan[F1-Gate.com]

General Motors announced that it will cooperate with Andretti Global, which wants to enter F1, and will use the Cadillac company branding to cooperate with the entry as “Andretti Cadillac”.

Michael Andretti sought to enter F1 by buying the Sauber F1 Team for 2021, but talks fell through at the last minute as the Sauber Group wanted to retain control of the team.

Subsequently, Michael Andretti announced that he would launch his own F1 team and aim to enter F1 in 2024, but the reaction from the F1 world has been cold.

F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali has been dismissive of the entry of independent F1 teams, saying the addition of F1 teams is “not the most important factor”. F1 teams are also concerned that the number of new teams will reduce their share of the revenue. Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff also said he was against Andretti joining, saying he didn’t need a new team unless it was a big-name carmaker.

Then Michael Andretti moved to win an entry into F1 by backing General Motors, one of America’s leading automakers.

However, the F1 team may have the name of a car manufacturer called Andretti Cadillac on its insignia, but General Motors/Cadillac is not registered as a manufacturer in the 2026 F1 rules and does not produce powertrains. Probably just by putting a Cadillac badge on a Renault power unit.

What F1 wants is to participate as a “constructor” that produces chassis or engines for car manufacturers, and this F1 participation plan, which is almost a title sponsor, is essentially Andretti Global. Not much difference from the original plan to produce a chassis and install the Renault F1 engine.

This is similar to the current Alfa Romeo F1 Team, which comes in as the name sponsor of the Sauber F1 team. Alfa Romeo insists on technical collaboration, but in reality it is only a question of changing the color of the F1 car and team equipment, and sending some people as team staff. Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato says he believes his partnership with the Sauber F1 Team has produced “the best return on investment on the planet”.

General Motors may be more involved in the F1 team’s operations, but has made no mention of buying a stake in the team. At best, the initial involvement will be in the form of seconding people to the Andretti-Cadillac board.

However, there are signs that this could change in the future. General Motors chairman Mark Reuss says the partnership goes “beyond the Cadillac livery.”

General Motors has increased its interest in racing in recent years. It has been a mainstay of the American racing scene through IndyCar and IMSA, but the decision to take the new LMDh Cadillac to the World Endurance Championship shows the company’s desire to go further.

Mark Reuss says there are a number of reasons why considering a move to F1 has been “pretty difficult” in the past. Under Barack Obama, the US government had to provide bailouts to keep GM alive. However, that has changed and Q3 2022 revenue hit a new record of $41.9 billion, demonstrating the strength of the group.

Mark Reuss clarified that Andretti will have full access to all of General Motors’ racing facilities.

“General Motors’ extensive engineering resources will bring proven successes and valuable contributions to this partnership,” said Mark Reuss.

“This includes all the talent and skills of GM Racing’s people and facilities in Michigan, the Warren Tech Center and North Carolina, as well as the expertise of our engineers and designers in areas such as combustion, battery technology, turbocharging and vehicle integration – the list keeps growing.”

As Mark Reuss has said, General Motors’ plans with Andretti could go further through a technical partnership aimed at taking the F1 team to the top.

Prior to this announcement, the prospect of adding Andretti to the grid seemed uninspiring to F1 shareholders. Surely another team would be better suited to the sport in terms of two more cars, two more drivers and consequently more action on the track. But F1 already has an all-American F1 team, Haas F1 Team, and competing with established manufacturers offers nothing new.

But General Motors’ presence through Cadillac could change that. F1 wants to be the series in which the biggest car manufacturers in the world aspire to participate. With Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault in the mix, Honda are looking to fully re-enter the game after a soft exit at the end of 2021 when they maintained a technical relationship with Red Bull.

Audi will arrive in 2026. Porsche is still knocking on the door. The addition of General Motors, especially with its economic strength and presence in America, looks like a good thing for F1.

Cadillac may not be the kind of automaker that immediately evokes speed and luxury, but it’s clear that General Motors wants to change that perception.

“A place I haven’t been in a long time, or where I haven’t been in a long time, F1 will provide exposure for Cadillac and the brand to grow as we expand Cadillac into a global brand,” said Marc. Royce said.

After all, F1 is arguably the best marketing tool for automakers.

There are still many hurdles for Andretti and Cadillac for this to happen, the biggest being the support of F1 and 10 teams. Mohamed bin Sulayem may have expressed enthusiasm for the plan, but this is not a decision the FIA ​​makes on its own.

As mentioned above, the current plan is not to have an automaker enter the tender, but to add General Motors/Cadillac as a marketing partner to Andretti Global’s original plan.

Indeed, a statement from F1 underlined interest from many parties, with Andretti and Cadillac not named. He reminded them that it was important for the championship to “remain credible” and that any decision would require the agreement of both F1 and the FIA.

“There is a lot of interest in the F1 project at the moment and there are many conversations going on that are less important than others,” F1 said in a statement.

“We all want the championship to remain credible and stable, and newcomer requests will be assessed by all stakeholders against criteria to achieve those goals. Newcomer requests require the consent of both F1 and the FIA”.

Category: F1 / Andretti