Formula 1 is set to see an 11th team on the grid for the first time in 10 years when General Motors join the sport in 2026 with their Cadillac brand.
F1 has not seen a fresh entry join the sport since Haas entered in 2016. That campaign was the last time the pinnacle of motorsport saw 22 cars on the grid, with Manor folding after the season.
GM had initially attempted to enter F1 with Andretti, but their bid was rejected by FOM for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. Now, after strong rumours at the Las Vegas Grand Prix suggested an 11th team was close to joining the grid, the American outfit struck an agreement, with Cadillac fronting the bid.
Plans to become a factory team are not expected to come to fruition until at least 2028, with Cadillac currently in talks with Ferrari over a deal to supply them with power units when they join the sport in 2026.
The arrival of an 11th team has been met with excitement from fans and key figures around the paddock. Martin Brundle welcomed the arrival of Cadillac as it would provide an opportunity for more driving talent to join the grid.
But speaking with Formel1.de, former Haas boss Guenther Steiner was left questioning whether Cadillac’s entry is ‘good’ for F1 for one important reason.
Guenther Steiner questions whether Cadillac will be on the ‘same level’ as the other teams when they enter F1
The reason why Andretti was rejected by FOM was that they did not have confidence that the team would add any commercial value to the sport. The 10 existing teams also expressed concerns about losing a chunk of the prize pool at the end of the season.
Cadillac’s arrival marks a huge U-turn in the decision to reject an 11th team, but Steiner stressed that GM must know how to run the team so that the rest of the teams are not at a ‘financial disadvantage’.
“GM must know how to do it logically, it can also be done commercially. They must correctly regulate the whole thing so that the other teams have no financial disadvantage,” he said.
“As long as a team, as long as it comes to the world championship well prepared, it is definitely not bad. Whether it is good I do not know.
“At the moment we have 10 strong teams here, you have to say. Stable teams that all help to create the spectacle and that’s why if you bring in someone who is not on the same level as them, then I don’t think that’s good, but that is work for us under FOM.”
Who could drive for Cadillac in 2026?
Naturally, with a new team joining F1, there will be two more slots on the grid to fill and speculation has already been rife as to who could drive with Cadillac when they join the sport.
Mario Andretti wants to have an American driver in one of their cars – F1 does not currently have a driver from the US after Logan Sargeant was sacked by Williams.
READ MORE: All to know about General Motors’ Cadillac F1 team from engine to drivers
Colton Herta has been heavily linked with Cadillac, given the IndyCar star’s connections to the team with Andretti. But Herta’s lack of a superlicense may be an issue if he applies to join F1 in 2026.
Mario Andretti also stressed that he wanted to have an experienced driver alongside a young American. Mick Schumacher is one name mentioned for a Cadillac seat, and the German would provide some experience from his time at Haas.
