GM/Cadillac approved for 2026 F1 entry

General Motors and its Cadillac brand has been given the final stamp of approval from the FIA and F1 to join as the eleventh team from 2026.

After it was initially agreed on in principle last year, the recent approval makes everything official, with the Cadillac team to base itself out of Silverstone with all the weight of GM behind it.

Things have been building at Silverstone over the coming months in expectation of the final tick, with former Marussia Sporting Director Graeme Lowdon being put in the Team Principal role, whilst Russ O’Blenes became CEO of TWG GM Performance Power Units.

Graeme Lowdon will be the Team Principal for Cadillac’s debut F1 season in 2026

Initially, it was Andretti Global trying to secure the license with some aggressive campaigning – which was met with much vocal consternation from other F1 team bosses and owners – that was also followed by an investigation launched at Liberty Media from the US Department of Justice over the rejection.

But with a bid then led by Dan Towriss and the TWG Group after Andretti pulled out, the operation in Silverstone was approved, with the team to enter in 2026 initially using Ferrari engines whilst GM develops its own to transform Cadillac into a full F1 works brand, which will be built near General Motors’ technical centre in Charlotte, North Carolina.

 “As we said in November, the commitment by General Motors to bring a Cadillac team to Formula 1 was an important and positive demonstration of the evolution of our sport,” F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said.

“I want to thank GM and TWG for their constructive engagement over many months and look forward to welcoming the team on the grid from 2026 for what will be another exciting year for Formula 1.”

FIA chief Ben Sulayem, who was supportive initially of the Andretti bid and the need for an eleventh team, also gave his thoughts.

“Today marks a transformative moment, and I am proud to lead the Federation in this progressive step for the championship,” Sulayem said.

“The FIA Formula One Championship’s expansion to an 11th team in 2026 is a milestone. GM/Cadillac brings fresh energy, aligning with the new FIA 2026 regulations and ushering in an exciting era for the sport.

“The Cadillac Formula 1 Team’s presence in the paddock will inspire future competitors and fans. Their entry strengthens our mission to push motorsport’s boundaries at the highest level.”

Team Principal Graeme Lowdon said that they want to be competitive on track from the outset.

“In terms of being ready to race, everything is on schedule,” Team Principal Graeme Lowdon said.

“We don’t just want to turn up and race, we want to be as competitive as we possibly can be.

“From that point of view, for sure we would have loved to have had more time and more people because the more of that you have, the more performance you can build in. But we recognised that the process itself requires a huge amount of energy and effort.

“In terms of timeline for production, we’re happy with where that stands. We’ve been using a lot of time up to now doing a lot of testing and validation of individual components, things like testing of noses, squeeze testing of chassis elements and the like.

“There’s an awful lot of work that has gone on in the background. There’s still a lot of work to do. We’re in a significantly better position now that we’re now a fully-fledged F1 team. We will have access to all the data and information that all the other teams have.

“Now we can really push to come up with the most competitive car that we can. The team is already very sizeable, we’re very comfortable about the position we’re in, in terms of being ready to go racing in 2026.”

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