Underscoring this is an ongoing tension between F1 itself and the governing body which is inherent in the sport’s structure. Liberty Media and its management group FOM own the commercial rights and bring in all the money but the championship belongs to the FIA which holds the regulatory power. The cost cap and F1’s increased revenue has made it feasible for the first time for all teams to be profitable entities and hence the franchise system has been put in place. For that to work requires a finite number of franchises, currently 10.
So obviously there is always going to be a resistance from existing franchise holders to the idea of an extra franchise diluting the profits for each. The teams will be resistant to it and so will FOM as it seeks to keep all its franchise holders healthy. The FIA on the other hand is duty-bound to hear out credible parties who wish to join its championship. So there is a little bit of power play going on here.
Andretti has been actively campaigning to join for a couple of years now and has sought to answer every requirement suggested. But even then, it was emphasised that any automotive group seeking to enter would probably be given preference. So Andretti has now come back with a big name automotive partner, knocking down yet another barrier.
Tension between FOM and FIA is clear
Antonin Vincent / DPPI
Which brings us to Cadillac, a brand with enormous cultural heft in the USA but relatively little presence in Europe and with an image a million miles from F1. But these are new times, with a rapidly changing audience for the sport and something of a revolution in the automotive industry where nothing is off the table as manufacturers try to adapt to rapid changes in buying habits.
With no mainstream European brands since selling off Opel/Vauxhall to Stellantis, General Motors plans to relaunch the Cadillac brand here and F1 would be a powerful marketing tool in doing that. But, looking at it the other way around, from F1’s European base to the USA, Cadillac is a hugely powerful brand over there already, lodged deep in the American psyche as the ultimate status symbol. A Cadillac presence might be calculated to bring enough new interest to more than overcome the dilution of the income.
A Cadillac-branded F1 entry sounds odd from the perspective of the past. But the world is radically changing.