F1 predictions king Eddie Jordan appears to have struck again, having recently claimed that the Andretti team will be on the grid for the F1 2026 season.

PlanetF1.com understands that Andretti partners General Motors are poised to be granted an F1 entry in the coming weeks after striking a deal with commercial rights holders Formula One Management (FOM).

Eddie Jordan’s Andretti F1 2026 prediction set to come true

Andretti had been seeking to enter F1 for some time, but saw their application rejected by Formula 1 in January despite gaining approval from governing body the FIA.

Recent changes to the top of Andretti appear to have been key to striking a deal, with owner Michael Andretti announcing in September that he would be stepping down from day-to-day running of the team.

The fact that the entry is now fronted by General Motors, one of the world’s largest car manufacturers, appears to be crucial to the change in FOM’s stance.

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PlanetF1.com understands that General Motors – which originally aligned with Andretti in January 2023 via its Cadillac brand – has been working on a deal to land a place on the grid for some time as a factory outfit in the style of the Mercedes, Ferrari and incoming Audi F1 teams.

The US brand previously committed to becoming an engine supplier from the start of the 2028 season.

Former F1 team owner Jordan has been insistent for some time that Andretti will be on the F1 2026 grid in some shape of form, regardless of FOM’s stance against the team.

Appearing on the Formula For Success podcast earlier this month, he said: “Andretti? See how tough the Americans are going to be with Formula 1 with regard to Andretti.

“I want you, in a year’s time, to come back to me and say: ‘S**t, I never saw that coming, I didn’t think they’d get the entry.’

“I’m telling you now: they will be on the grid in ’26.”

Jordan has made a series of accurate predictions over the course of his successful punditry career, famously breaking the news of Lewis Hamilton’s shock switch from McLaren to Mercedes at the end of the 2012 season.

The Irishman also called Kimi Raikkonen’s return to Ferrari in 2013, Fernando Alonso’s move to McLaren for 2015 and McLaren’s return to customer Mercedes engines following the disastrous Honda era.

The 76-year-old was among the fiercest critics of FOM’s decision to reject Andretti’s application last winter, with the commercial rights holder claiming the American outfit would bring minimal value to the sport.

Jordan said in February: “With a name like Andretti, with the possibility of people being employed – they will employ maybe 700-800 people – think about what income that [creates], it generates more value.

“It’s in the backyard of where we’re all trying to achieve greatness and that is in America – Drive to Survive.

“It’s natural that somebody like Andretti [would want to enter F1]. It’s a privilege for us to have somebody like Michael Andretti and his father Mario, a World Champion.

“I think it’s scandalous that these teams [have taken such a dim view of Andretti’s entry].

“Even though Liberty say the teams didn’t have an effect on this, that’s nonsense. Of course they have: they made it very clear that it’s closed shop, it’s us 10, forget everyone else, it’s a franchise.

“You’ve got conflict here. Who is the deciding law – is it the FIA or is it F1?

“The FIA, for me, was always the people to have an elected process of who is the president, who does this and who does that.

“I can promise you that the FIA would have given this great thought, great understanding, and in the interest of the sport they decided that there should and could be a position for Andretti.

“For Liberty or F1 or FOM – call them what you like – to come out and then say they do not meet the criteria, they do not believe that the $200million that they would have had to put into some form of escrow was sufficient and they couldn’t prove that, honestly that’s nonsense.

“The Andrettis, in my opinion, could do anything.

“Formula 1 needs the Andretti name. It’s a fantastic name. I am so sad that they’ve excluded him. I’m really sad.”

Despite being rejected by the Formula 1, Andretti had pressed on with plans for an F1 2026 entry over the course of this year.

In April, the team announced the opening of a 48,000-square-foot UK base at Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix, with the team announcing the signing of F1’s own chief technical officer Pat Symonds – formerly of Benetton/Renault and Williams – weeks later.

Mr Andretti also confirmed that General Motors had started building an engine for the F1 2028 season.

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