Formula 1 is set to have an 11th team on the grid for the first time in 10 years when Cadillac join the grid in 2026.
The American brand are entering the sport through General Motors after they took over the failed Andretti bid and struck a deal with F1 to join the grid through Cadillac.
Ahead of their arrival to F1 in 2026, the team have already made huge steps forward behind the scenes to prepare. Cadillac recently announced that former Marussia sporting director Graeme Lowdon would be their team principal.
GM are planning to bring their own power units to the sport, but they are not due to be ready until 2028. Cadillac have agreed a deal with Ferrari for the Italian outfit to supply them with engines for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.
Mario Andretti – who fronted the Andretti bid that was rejected by Formula One Management alongside his son Michael – will be part of Cadillac’s operation as a director on the board. And the 1978 F1 champion is looking to take inspiration from a current F1 team to build the foundations for the American team.
Mario Andretti wants to adopt McLaren’s model at Cadillac
Speaking on Drive to Wynn, Andretti says that he wants Cadillac to build their team on the McLaren model. The Woking-based outfit have enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent months, having gone from backmarkers at the start of 2023 to constructors’ champions in 2024.
And Andretti is hoping to emulate that success with Cadillac. When asked which current F1 team he would want to build the American team’s model off, he said: “Probably McLaren at the moment.
“Yeah, I mean the level they are competing, we look at the beginning of the season to where it is now, it’s just amazing to see.
“It’s all about the effort, it’s the people that you surround yourself with and all that and make the difference. The drivers, the technical side and that’s what makes it work.
“I mean we know that one movement in a key position on a team can bring things around. We’ve seen that in McLaren obviously and Zak Brown will be the first one to admit it.”
Who could drive with Cadillac when they join F1?
While they do not join F1 for another 15 months, speculation has already been rife as to who will race with Cadillac in 2026.
Mario Andretti wants to have an American driver in one of their cars alongside an experienced head. IndyCar star Colton Herta is the favourite to be the American talent, but Gary Anderson thinks Herta makes too many mistakes to move to F1.
READ MORE: All to know about General Motors’ Cadillac F1 team from engine to drivers
Cadillac do have several options available to them in the driver market, with the likes of Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen being currently free agents. Guenther Steiner thinks Yuki Tsunoda is not interested in joining Cadillac as he has his sights set on joining Red Bull.
While Cadillac have a plan for their two drivers, it could be possible that Ferrari want to put one of their junior drivers into the team at some point in the future, given the two teams’ engine partnership.
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