General Motors has formally submitted its registration to the FIA, signaling its entry as a power unit supplier in the 2028 F1 season. Interestingly, this move solidifies their role in providing key components for the Andretti Cadillac F1 team.
According to the most recent developments, the Andretti family’s advancement to the third level of the FIA approval procedure highlights the seriousness of their partnership with General Motors. However, even with their support, Andretti needs a customer deal for their first Formula One entry in 2025 or 2026.
Considering that the preliminary contract with Renault has lapsed, Andretti now must secure an engine supply from an approved manufacturer. However, as time is running out and power unit manufacturers demand a year’s notice for such commitments, Andretti needs to speed up their hunt.
The urgency arises as the current commercial agreement is more advantageous for the team compared to future ones. Notably, Andretti needs to pay $200 million and invest $300 million to kickstart operations. This might help them secure an asset with a projected worth of $1 billion.
What is the competitive outlook with current teams in the context of Andretti’s Formula One desire?
The reception of Andretti’s potential entry among existing F1 teams has been lukewarm. Notably, contrasting opinions have surfaced from figures like Toto Wolff and Christian Horner, both expressing reservations about Andretti’s participation. Their concerns center around the possible impact of an 11th team on the distribution of prizes and revenue among the existing 10 teams.
According to the Concorde agreement, each new team joining the grid must pay a 200 million dilution fee, which works out to 20 million for each current team. However, some team leaders argue that this sum is insufficient, claiming that the addition of a new team results in the existing teams losing out on prize money.
Moreover, several teams concur that Andretti’s project to build a competitive team will probably take five years which will negatively impact the current teams. In a nutshell, it is predicted that Andretti’s arrival will cost the teams billions of dollars over multiple seasons.
However, the existing teams would have welcomed Andretti’s entry if they perceived it as adding value to the sport. Taking this into consideration, according to the Joe Saward Article, ” The teams are happy to have Andretti if they see value being added to the sport, but they currently do not.” Apart from this, teams also argue that Andretti lacks experience in building single-seater race cars and hasn’t utilized chassis from specialized manufacturers.
In contrast, Andretti and its supporters believe they have the capability. Nevertheless, the opposing teams still maintain that the new entity might just be a “passenger” participant in the future. Unfortunately, the conflict appears more financially driven than rooted in racing competition.
Interestingly amidst this, Andretti’s partner GM has been developing a modern F1 power unit, with the name Ilmor emerging, previously associated with Honda in F1 and assisting Chevrolet in Indycar racing.
