P1 with Matt and Tommy - Our reaction to Cadillac joining F1 in 2026!

Episode Date: November 25, 2024

BIG news: we have an eleventh team on the grid for 2026! And it's Cadillac!What? Why? Where's Andretti? Who's going to drive for them? We've got (some) answers to plenty of intriguing questions. Join us for our End of Season tour across the UK this December! There are still some tickets available for London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol right here!Sign up to our Patreon here! You'll get access to bonus episodes, our classic race podcast series, every P1 episode ad-free, early access to live tickets and merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with other F1 fans!Follow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello everybody and welcome back to an emergency podcast. The P1 podcast is here to talk about emergency news. And it feels like we've had a lot of emergency news this year. But here we are to talk some more because Formula One is having an 11th team. Finally. And it is called, we don't really know, but probably Cadillac, even though it's all very confusing as to who's actually doing it, what parts are being used and everything else.

because the last thing we heard was that, no, Andretti can't come, even Andretti Cadillac can't come. And then not a lot being said. And then, oh, some murmurs. Oh, is F1 going to allow on a level of the team? And then boom, Cadillac has been allowed. No mention really whatsoever of Andretti.

And here we are with probably a few question marks. Indeed, yeah. I think on the face of it, probably quite confusing for fans that have heard a lot about Andretti in their bid for Formula One and then suddenly F1 are like Cadillac, welcome to the grid but we'll get into

why and how there is still that connection even though it is a tad confusing. So Formula One has reached an agreement in principle with General Motors to support bringing General Motors and Cadillac as the 11th team to the grid in 2026. That's the statement, that's what's been put out and yeah, the first question

And it even baffled myself. I was like, oh, Cadillac's in. But where's Andretti? Is it Andretti? What's going on? So I guess the timeline of it all is that Andretti, the bid, was rejected. And then an Andretti Cadillac bid was also rejected. And he thought, ah, well, there's no way else in, really, for Andretti especially.

And then the next part would be that Michael Andretti stepped back from the day-to-day running of the team. which was kind of believed to be a key factor in the reversing of the decisions. If you remember when they first tried to get involved, Andretti, F1 just turn around and went, Andretti who? Sorry, mate. I've never heard of you. I don't think you're going to bring that much to the sport. The sport's going to give you lots.

And F1 is very transactional. They want as much as they give. And the teams as well, of course, didn't want an extra team on the grid. exactly and so when the announcement has been happened today as I mentioned well there's been no mention of Andretti at all from the F1 announcement but there has been sort of sprinklings from general motors and that sort of side of things yeah absolutely so the the key thing here is it is the andretti bid they've basically just got rid of all of the Andretti stuff which makes it clear that that's all they really needed to do and

Formula One's love of manufacturers and a big name. Of course, if you don't maybe don't know your car side of things or maybe outside the US General Motors own Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac, and they are the largest automaker in the United States. So massive, massive company. And yeah, like you said before, that it was Andretti Cadillac and they said no

and then they went right Michael Andretti he's gone We're just Cadillac now Come on in And of course Cadillac aren't now going to build their own Formula One team Andretti were very

We heard all this stuff about Andretti Didn't we that they've got a base at Silverstone They hired people like Pat Simmons They had a 2026 wind tunnel They've hired people from Alpine as well And that project is now being basically taken over by General Motors. So whether Andretti will even be involved in any way,

and we'll even see an Andretti logo or anything on the car, who knows at this stage, but it is that Andretti project with essentially the word Andretti removed from it. It's the first question from Colkey, and it's kind of tapping into what you were just saying there, Tommy. How much do you think Andretti is still involved with the project? So from what I've seen, there is still, so Mario Andretti, who's the father of Michael Andretti, is going to be a director on the team's board. So how much power that actually is going to really have?

Who knows? But I feel as though there is some Andretti power within it. But also, clearly there's had to be some kind of agreement with Formula One around what this team's going to be called. what the brand is and everything else because yeah, Formula One clearly didn't see the value in having Andretti as the 11th team that they'd be shouting about but Cadillac, yeah, yeah, come on. plaster that everywhere. Cadillac has joined.

Exactly. If you go on the statement on the Formula One website about General Motors and the media, there is a quote from the President and CEO of Liberty Media, Stefano Diminicali, the presidency of Formula One, president of the FAA, president of General Motors and the CEO of TWG Global Motorsport business and the word Andretti is not mentioned once. So from Formula One side, they don't mention it,

whereas GM have already kind of put in their statement that TWG Global owns the Andretti thing and it's still part of it and Mario Andretti is going to be this director. That's all we know as of yet. So whether they'll sneak some logos on the car and still have involvement and what Mario Andretti can do. But hey, at least we've got that 11th team finally, eh? Yeah, I mean, there was two parts of this, right? The first part for fans is we want an 11th team. We want to have more cars on the grid.

We want ideally to have a 12th team as well. That would be lovely. But let's, you know, take one step at a time. But also, I think a lot of fans warmed to the fact that it was the Andretti name and the heritage and the history. that that team and name and carries in motorsport. So I really hope that with it being Cadillac and General Motors getting involved, that it doesn't kind of wash away what they were trying to do with the brand initially and the team initially because that would be a shame, wouldn't it?

It would. I mean, for me, Andretti, you know, Cadillac have had some motorsport ties are obviously in like IMSA and things. And however, history may be not really outside the US of motorsport as much. So the fact that for me, and maybe a lot of people, maybe outside the US as well, that Andretti is a name more synonymous with motorsport than Cadillac anyway for us. So it's a shame because it was such a legendary name and it's something cool that we've not seen in Formula One for a long time.

You know, we're seeing the likes of, I know there's a lot of talk when Williams, for example, got bought out by a company and they kept the Williams name, but, you know, days gone by, we've seen Menardi become Torrosso and name changes from that extent. And it's a shame that these kind of legendary names don't seem to be welcome, but Formula One, of course, they love their manufacturers, which we have seen before. They certainly do. Next question, Catman 2F3. It seems stopping the Andretti name helped the bid.

Does that mean all new teams joining from now on needs to be a car brand? I think Formula One see the value in that. It's funny when you look at, of course, teams like Hass. They exist. But I feel like they got in in Formula One at the exact right point, which was just before Drive to Survive launched, passed joined in 2016. Then from 2017, I think, well, it's very clear to see

that the Formula One brand, the value, skyrocketed from there. The audience viewership went through the roof. And Formula One then realized, no, we're not opening our gates to anybody. And this is essentially... And the teams do want to share the money as well. Yeah, and the teams as well have had a little bit too much power.

We've spoken about this before. People like Toto Wolf being very outspoken about the matter and saying, well, we don't want to share the prize money and things like that. I think James Vowles was also arguing last year his case. I remember a Sky interview very vividly when he was literally on there, just talking for 10 minutes trying to be like,

well, you know, it'd be great. But also, no, it's not going to happen. And it has, thankfully, this is what we need to see from an entertainment side of things. And yeah, it's a shame because Formula One obviously have, as I say, realized the value, which has therefore stopped potentially smaller underdog teams coming in. But look, I think the whole,

Andretti taken over Hasn narrative stopped when Hass actually created a car that was any good and they were like oh okay actually they do belong in Formula One fair enough

Hass well played so yeah it's I think from here on it has to be big names because they see that's the way to bring the most money into Formula One and probably big manufacturers

are the only ones that can afford it anyway nowadays indeed we've seen Formula One bend over backwards for manufacturers and things anyway look at the new regulations that are coming in to, let's be honest, make sure that people like Audi are coming

in. Audi were never going to join Formula One if it was just V10 engines like it used to be in V8s or whatever. And then they tried to lure them in, which made it very much an engine formula that made all the manufacturers happy in Mercedes and stuff. And Audi were going to join, but didn't. And now they've joined again. I think they are all. always going to go after these big car manufacturers, which I do get. Maybe I'm just old school. And to me, I think it is a shame that you don't get the likes of maybe when I was growing up and you had your Benetons and your Jordans and things and these kind of crazy business owners.

I think you are a Red Bull fan as well. You know, you are literally a drink's fan. This is the thing that they're not letting Andretti in because it's not seemingly legendary enough. but let's have two brands from a fizzy drink having two teams. But that was all because they came in before, of course. So I'm disappointed that it's not going to be called Andretti, but I guess the positive here is that we do have, well, in principle, of course,

but it seems very likely that we are going to get that 11th team that we wanted. And that's important because, of course, more drivers on the grid, of course, and another team, which is good. Exactly, and more things to get excited about and hopefully more action out on track as well. Next question, P1 patron member, Captain OBS 3-420. Will General Motors joining open the floodgates

for more teams to finally join in as well? No, I think, Tommy, you've kind of highlighted there about General Motors being massive in the United States, which ding, ding, ding, ding is exactly where F1 want to activate more and more, which is the United States. And they're not done, just because we have three races in the year,

US, I don't think that's even close to where they'd love to get it to. And obviously, this helps them in their bid to continue this momentum for sure. Who that would be, again, it would have to be another car brand, right? A massive car brand that was interested. And even then, like, it's, it's not like you just go, you know what, our fancy an F1 team. Because most of the time, it is quite rare, isn't it, to see someone just join Formula One. But as we mentioned earlier, that the sort of baseline is already there. because they've been working on it for ages, Andretti, and they've got all of these facilities.

If you don't have a team to take over, it is a several-year project just to get, to be ready to create a Formula One car. You can't just go, I'll just put one together in my garage. Yeah, that's no problem. You've got a big garage, Dave, haven't you? Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's start an F-1 team. It just doesn't happen like that.

And Toyota, I think, learned the lesson big time back in the 2000s of throwing money at it, going, we're going to start from scratch, have our own thing. and it just completely failed. And now, of course, they're rejoining with HASS. I think Audi as well, of course, they're making a big song and dance about them joining F1,

but they're taking over Salba. They're taking over those facilities. Yes, they're going to improve it and build more. But I think this is the way that it's going to attract people now, is manufacturers coming in. It's clearly worked these new rules because in 2026, we're going to have Ford coming in for Red Bull, Toyota taking, you know, having their partnership with Hasse, may they even get more involved, Audi taking over Salba, General Motors

coming in as well, and Honda going to Asamart and all this kind of stuff. So it is very much the car manufacturers, but I don't, I think that this would have never happened if Andretti hadn't have committed in the first place and built their own factory and done all this stuff because no manufacturer is going to able to go in. You know, the reason why they have come into other championships and things is it's far less expensive and risky than Formula One. And they don't want to come in and be embarrassed like we have seen in the past with Toyota

or even Honda when they came in and worked with McLaren for a long time before they have got the success that they've had now. So, yeah, I don't, I can't. I can't see it happening that there's going to be suddenly all these manufacturers joining because it's just a case of taking over teams and a lot of them have already kind of got that manufacturer involvement already. Absolutely. Next question from SIGI.

Do you think they will prioritise getting big names or rookies as their driver line up? Now, of course, we're the new team that actually opens up two more spots for 2026, which is very exciting, especially for the younger talent that we've spoken about so much about not being able to get an opportunity to be on the grid. Now, it's early to start predicting, but it's also fun to start predicting, so why not? I think Colton Herta surely has to be one of the front runners for a seat there if he wants it, which I'm sure he does. And then alongside him, I mean, botas is going to have been out a year. Would he go back?

I mean, I'm sure he'd come back to Formula One, but would he be chosen? Checo Perez. I think this has got Sergio Perez written all over it. Yeah. Peres hurt a line up. Well, I think it will be, it's said big name or rookie.

I think they do the same as, you know, you get an experienced driver and a young driver. And it's clear from, as we go back to the start of Mario, Andretti still having a place somewhere. He was very outspoken after that Andretti bid that they desperately wanted Colton Hurtt or, or at the very least, a young American talent to come in. And yeah, maybe those conversations start up again.

I think the hype of Hurtr died down a lot in recent years, maybe not doing as well as in IndyCar as first did, for example. And of course, there was even talk that he might even go to McLaren at one point when he was really, there was that massive hype around him. But there's still very much a chance. And I think they will want a young American driver, whoever that may be. And then they're going to go for a more experienced person I can see. And I really do think that Peres would be well suited to it. However much you think how he's doing at Red Bull, I could just see it happening.

And Logie Bear, back. Thoughts? maybe not there's a budget cap okay it'll be interesting to see exactly who goes into that team for sure and they will feature in our

predictions when we do it next year I imagine next question P1 Patreon member Abu Dhabi 2021 Survivor will the points qualifying structure change now with 22 cars

well the points probably not the qualifying structure would perhaps require just an extra person going out in Q1 and QT? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They'd keep it as a top 10, I'd assume. Yeah, we've sorted it in five seconds there.

Easy. But with the points, no, I don't think they would. Personally, if they're not willing to change the point structure now, where we've already spoken about top four, top five teams, I think it would just make points even slightly more valuable with the fact that there's two more cars trying to go for it. And fingers crossed as well in 2026, we shake up the pecking order,

and we don't just have a top four teams miles clear and then the rest. Probably going to be one team miles clear than the rest. But yeah, I don't need to 20, 29 and everyone's really close again. And then they're like, right, we're changing the rules. But I think that with the point system, there's a conversation to be had that we've had before, that maybe they need to offer more points down the order because of how reliable Formula One cars are to give more people points. but I think that would change regardless of if there's going to be 22 or 20 cars. If they decide to do that, this won't cause a factor into it.

You know, we've had 26 cars on the grid in the past and you only got six points places. And it didn't change then just because more people added or got taken away. I said true, yeah. You've said 24, didn't we? Yeah. But that was, if you go. go to a Wikipedia page and look at the amount of retirements in the 90s, people would, you were lucky if you didn't have six or seven retirements during the season, every single

driver because it was so. And that's why the points were kind of less, but there's of course talk now of maybe they should add more, but we've not heard really anything from Formula One themselves. It's more just fan chatter of whether it should happen. So I doubt they do it. And then, of course, the qualifying structure just makes sense to extra person in Q1 and Q2. Absolutely. Well, there you go.

That is us stunned and dusted for this emergency podcast. Hopefully you're now up to speed with the fact that it's Cadillac but kind of Andretti but also not. And yet, nice and confusing. Cadillac, not Andretti. That's what they should call the team name. Yeah, there you go. If they do that, then they're just basically saying it's not. So still a less ridiculous name than Visa Cash App RB as well.

Very true, very true. What are your final thoughts, Tommy? Final thoughts are despite the disappointment of Andretti, great to see another team joining. More drivers on the grid. We've had this problem so many times that there's a lot of young talent and talent on the grid, but not enough seats. So glad this looks like it's going to be happening and can't wait. Bring it on. Thank you, everybody for tuning in to this, as I say, emergency podcast. I'm sure there'll be another 12 before the end of the year.

But we'll see you very soon. Lots of love. Take care. Bye-bye. Goodbye. No household chores. Just honestly go to bed. It's an emergency podcast. You know what I mean?

Just go relax. Go to bed. Go to sleep. That's your chore. Okay? It's far too late. You should have gone to bed half an hour ago. Goodness gracious me.

Sweet dreams. Good night. P1 is a Stack production and part of the Acast's creator network.