For 33 long months, Andretti Global and Cadillac battled for a coveted entry as an 11th Formula 1 team — and when the acceptance finally happened, it came when the Andretti family name was largely nixed from the conversation.

But according to 1978 Formula 1 World Champion Mario Andretti, simply having an American team on the grid was the ultimate goal. Had F1 continued to reject a US entry, he wouldn’t have been surprised to see some American backlash.

“The fight was worth it” says Mario Andretti

The saga of Formula 1’s prospective 11th team has been filled with enough twists and turns to make Agatha Christie envious. The entry that started as Andretti Global with Cadillac soon became simply Cadillac as team leader Michael Andretti stepped back amid seemingly personal opposition from Formula One Management.

FOM’s rejection of Andretti left the door open for Cadillac, and the General Motors sub-brand continued its tireless efforts to develop a prospective Formula 1 car for the 2026 season. By the end of 2024, FOM had relented, and Cadillac was given a provisional entry.

Today, development is still going strong as the outfit has amassed a staff of 270 employees, according to Auto Motor und Sport, and as a slew of former Manor and Renault personnel begin to assume positions with the new operation.

And while the Andretti family could feel frustrated about its own rejection, Mario Andretti — a former F1 World Champion who will also serve as a non-voting member of the Cadillac F1 team board — says it’s about damn time there was an American team on the grid.

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In a comprehensive interview with Auto Motor und Sport, Mario Andretti stated that “the goal was to get an American team on the starting line, and we achieved that.

“Michael is happy too, even though he withdrew from the project. He simply said: If I’m the obstacle, then I’ll clear the way.”

It was a noble move from Mario Andretti’s son, and one that has paid dividends. But the patriarch of America’s great racing family understands that not all was perfect.

“Looking back, we could certainly have done some things better,” he admitted.

“But I never look back, always forward. In the end, the only thing that counts is whether you reach the goal.”

Per Andretti, it matters far less what the team is called, so long as there is a “successful” U.S. team on the grid.

“The project wouldn’t have been born without us, and it wouldn’t have made it to General Motors without us,” Andretti explained.

“It would have been a big mistake to turn us down. That wouldn’t have been well received in America.

“This isn’t a soap bubble, but a long-term commitment.”

And though that long-term commitment will more greatly involve Cadillac — as both a team and a power unit supplier by the end of the decade — than Andretti, it’s still an American team that a growing American fanbase can truly root for.

It’s not just a boon for U.S. fans. For months, GM engineers were hard at work developing a machine that may never see the light of day; the confirmation means that “now the engineers know that they are working for something that will actually be on the starting line in 2026. Before, there were no guarantees, just the belief that everything would turn out well,” Andretti said.

Now, American fans won’t have to worry; they’ll have their very own team to root for starting in 2026.

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