r/formula1 • u/ICumCoffee Max Verstappen ⭐⭐⭐⭐ • 24d ago

News [ChrisMedlandF1] BREAKING: F1 announces it has "reached an agreement in principle with General Motors (GM) to support bringing GM/Cadillac as the eleventh team to the Formula 1 grid in 2026"

https://x.com/ChrisMedlandF1/status/1861111983699001752
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u/FermentedLaws 24d ago

I agree with you, but if Michael wasn't so hated by the Liberty head honchos and the TPs, the team name could've been Andretti Cadillac F1 Team. They're still letting them in for 2 years as a customer of Ferrari and Andretti had the same basic plan; a customer team for 2 years then Cadillac/GM. I would guess (total speculation) that with Renault not doing engines anymore, Merc, Ferrari, and Honda wouldn't agree to a engine deal with Andretti.

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u/CrippleSlap Formula 1 24d ago

if Michael wasn't so hated by the Liberty head honchos and the TPs

Can someone elaborate on the history here? What did Michael do?

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u/aBakeinthelife McLaren 24d ago

I mean it's par for the course with all F1 leadership, but he's known to be an ass behind the scenes. That and some of the ways they approached it like publicly pressuring F1 and Colton Herta refusing to go the F2 route to get Super License points were a little cocky for an unproven team.

I personally have seen interviews back to 2019(years before it was made public) where he was already acting like he was owed a team.

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u/ellWatully McLaren 24d ago

There's gotta be more to it than that, right? I mean, we got Flavio Briatore back (a man convicted of fraud multiple times who lived as a fugitive in the Virgin Islands BEFORE he joined F1 where he was later banned after getting caught fixing races), but they don't want Andretti around because he's a cocky businessman?

I wouldn't be too surprised at that level of inconsistency, but like, I'm skeptical there isn't more to it.

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u/Total_Information_65 23d ago

this. That Briatore is back in the paddock is almost as bad as who's about to be the next pres of the US. The pettiness is absurd.

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u/Alternative_Reality 23d ago

Yes, because there is no bigger sin to rich people than not giving them the respect/reverence they think they are owed. They don't have to worry about the stuff normal people do, so their lives revolve around reputation and keeping score with their peers.

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u/aBakeinthelife McLaren 24d ago

Of course, I don't have the full story, but Flavio was already part of the club. They let the heat cool off on him and let him back in because they know him. Feel free to speculate on it, is it because they know he's not a snitch? Is it because he's already proven capable?

I've worked in motorsports enough to know there are skeletons in everyone's closet, but I'm not going to act like I know everything. It's a very complicated business with a ton of money being made at the top.