The 2026 F1 season is set to feature an all-new challenge as Cadillac will join the sport as the 11th team on the grid. With only 10 having competed in F1 since 2017, most of the current drivers, including Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, have only competed in 20-car grids.
However, the increased competition that Leclerc will face from 2026 onwards doesn’t bother him. On the contrary, he is looking forward to Cadillac’s entry.
“As a driver, you’ve got to be happy knowing there are two more seats. It’s good for Formula 1, for young drivers, and for the show. It will be my first time racing with 22 cars on track and I think it’ll be fun,” Leclerc said to Ferrari.
Asked about Cadillac joining Formula 1 in 2026, Charles Leclerc said: “As a driver, you’ve got to be happy knowing there are two more seats.”
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While this addition, announced by F1 earlier this week, could introduce an interesting dynamic for fans, the key question is whether it will be financially sustainable for the sport. Over the past two years, Formula One Management repeatedly rejected Andretti’s bid to join the grid, primarily citing concerns about the prize money, which would then need to be divided among 11 teams.
Guenther Steiner, who has the experience of managing a side that had a cash-strapped budget, explained the concerns that could arise with someone new joining.
“Just to have more teams, you need to share money with more people, which makes less for everybody. Then all of a sudden, even if you have 12 competitive teams, some will not end up with enough money and they will fall back. But then you have to keep these people around because they have the license because you cannot say you are not allowed,” the former Haas boss said on the ESPN unlapped podcast.
However, this concern could be alleviated by the payment of an anti-dilution fee, which, as outlined in the current Concorde Agreement, is a sum paid to compensate for the additional division of prize money. Cadillac reportedly paid $450 million, which Red Bull boss Helmut Marko stated wasn’t enough, since the existing teams had invested a lot more money over the years.
