Big news from the F1 world: Andretti and Cadillac’s plan to start an F1 team together has passed the second phase. The FIA has approved the bid of Andretti Formula Racing LLC (as the team is officially known) to become the eleventh F1 team on the grid in 2026. Unfortunately for the Americans, this does not mean that everything is all set and done.
The American entry is the only remaining candidate to start an F1 team in three years. It was previously revealed that Rodin Carlin, Hitech and LKYSUNZ did not pass the test. In the second phase, the FIA looked at sporting and technical options, how the team wants to get everything done financially, the experience in motorsport and how sustainable they are. So this was okay.
There is one more inspection to go
Now the American racing team must answer to Formula One Management (FOM). This group – together with the FIA - takes care of the packed calendar, manages the promotion of F1 and approves circuits that want to be included in the calendar. FOM looks at the commercial side of the story for the new F1 team. If Andretti also passes this phase, the team will be on the grid in 2026.
What FOM will also look at is the opinion of the current F1 teams. Several team bosses announced that they were not interested in adding an eleventh team to the grid. This is purely due to the fact that the prize money is not shared by ten teams, but by eleven teams. It is not known when the FOM will make a ruling on Andretti’s offer.
Andretti wants to turn their potential F1 team into an American party. In January, the team said they will be working from the US with an additional factory in the UK. In addition, there will be an American driver in a seat. Who would they want to put in it? Logan Sargeant? Or maybe Colton Herta? He already drives for Andretti in Indycar. We’ll continue to keep an eye on it.
