Cadillac's 2026 F1 entry has been officially formalized, and American race fans rejoice. Having such an iconic brand like General Motors in Formula 1 is huge and will only benefit both GM and the sport of F1 as a truly worldwide racing series.
With GM comes a racing pedigree that is matched by few in the world with its brands winning everything from the Daytona 500 to the Indianapolis 500 with Chevrolet stateside, as well as events like the Le Mans 24 (Corvette) and Bathurst 1000 (Holden) abroad. And Cadillac itself has enjoyed plenty of recent success in the sportscar racing world, winning the Rolex 24 overall in four consecutive years. That's a feat only one other manufacturer (Porsche) has ever achieved in the 24-hour event. But the global brand has yet to tackle F1 in a substantiative way, unless you want to count the occasional 1950s entry when Indy counted towards the world championship.
This entry needed to happen sooner rather than later, especially with drama surrounding the proposed 11th entry. F1 didn't do themselves any favors by coldly rejecting Andretti, claiming the entry "would not, on its own, provide value to the championship." The sport lost a lot of the good will it had curated in the States and that won't be easily forgotten. But fans can now put their passion behind a true American entry (sorry Haas), and they are likely even more incentivized now to back this new US entry against the established titans of F1.
As for Haas, they squandered their opportunity to be a home for American race fans long ago. They appeared to want to blend in with the F1 world rather than revolutionize it. They never even attempted any crossover promotions with NASCAR despite Gene Haas owning teams in both series. And besides, if there were any fans following Haas simply for repping the stars and stripes, that probably went out the window when they showed up in 2021 wrapped in a Russian flag livery.
True homegrown American star power
If Cadillac really want to capitalize on branding themselves as the home for American race fans, they need a livery that is a striking and representative of their heritage. They also need activation. Do crossovers, ride swaps and things that connect this new F1 team to the US-centric racing divisions that GM is already heavily involved in. But the most important thing they need to do beyond actually achieving results on track is an American-born driver. Now, the Trackhouse Moto GP showcased why nationality should never be prioritized over talent, taking the criticism for passing over a US rider for Japanese rookie Ai Ogura, only for him to go and light the world on fire in his debut. But Cadillac doesn't need to compromise as there is a deep talent pool of drivers in the States, many of which would be perfectly capable of taking on this challenge, including likely choice Colton Herta.
It's so important that any US driver for the team be a homegrown star, not just one that wears the American flag on their firesuit. The problem with Logan Sargeant (besides the on-track struggles) is that he wasn't a name every American race fan knew. That's not his fault as he had to spend his formative racing years in Europe in order to become an F1 driver in the first place, but that made it difficult for Americans to connect to him. However, every US race fan knows Herta, Josef Newgarden, and Kyle Larson. And so, Cadillac F1 needs a driver that US fans have watched race and succeed in the States for years, not just one that carries the right birth certificate.
Becoming the American F1 team
F1 itself seems keen on expanding into the US but it's all for naught without someone they can naturally cheer for when the sport rolls into COTA, Vegas, or Miami. And Americans haven't had much to celebrate in recent years due to the absence of such a homegrown talent on the grid, and of course, Haas struggling both for results and an identity.
Ultimately, it won't take much for Cadillac to become the de facto US team over Haas. As long as they show up race morning in Melbourne come 2026, they'll already be ahead of the doomed 2010 US F1 team entry. But while they can ride the hype, they need to bring results and the star power in the end to keep it. Thankfully, Cadillac seems keen to do both and if they can achieve the heights they're shooting for, F1 won't have to try very hard to keep that foothold they so desperately want in the USA.
