With all the other things happening this last week it didn’t get much attention that the president of the FIA (the governing body for most international racing) put out a tweet saying that he wanted to expand the FIA grid:
— Mohammed Ben Sulayem (@Ben_Sulayem) January 2, 2023 This is a big deal as, for the most part, even the new teams in F1 are just rebadges of exiting teams (Jordan became Midland became Spyker became Force India became Racing Point became Aston Martin).
F1 is enormously expensive and American automakers have been content to race in NASCAR, with Ford/GM/Chrysler occasionally competing at Le Mans, though typically in the sports car classes (Cadillac, it’s worth noting, is going back to Le Mans with this beautiful hypercar.) So why now? Let’s list the reasons, in chronological order:
1. The Senna Effect
Credit to my old boss JF Musial for good timing with this Road & Track piece on how Asif Kapadia’s wonderful 2010 film Senna, covering the life and death of Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna, sparked an interest in the sport.
2. The Sport Comes Back To America
After a disastrous end to racing at Indy, a surging NASCAR made F1 barely a necessity in the United States and there was a five-year drought. Then, in 2012, the brand new Circuit of the Americas hosted the first rebranded U.S. Grand Prix. I was there (with Patrick) and it was a lot of fun and super strange because no one seemed to know what to do with it.
3. Liberty Media Buys F1
An American company, Liberty Media, buys F1. The old guard who owned F1, in my opinion, did a bad job with the sport. It was resistant to social media. It was still enamored with linear TV deals. If you were an American, there was not a huge reason to watch it, even if NBC Sports (which, full disclosure, I did some work with) did an ok job at trying to broadcast it. When Liberty Media bought the company they opened the doors to social media and improved accessibility to the sport via streaming platforms. They also opened the door to Netflix.
4. Drive To Survive
Technically, in between all of this, an American company fronted by Gene Haas started an F1 team called Haas F1. What’s more important is at the same time Liberty Media gave access to a production company and Netflix to film behind-the-scenes of F1 and expose fans to the drama of the sport and teams like Haas and Red Bull. It was an enormous success and made even backmarker drivers suddenly famous in the United States.
5. The Expansion of F1 Races
First it was Austin. Then, last year, it was Miami. Next year it’s Austin, Miami, and Las Vegas. That’s more races than anywhere else on the planet. What’s missing is an American driver and an American brand.
Why It’s A Big Deal
We know that next year we’ll have Logan Sargeant as America’s first regular representation in years, but he’s still racing for a British team. Enter Cadillac and Andretti. Here’s what they say in their press release: I probably don’t have to explain why Mario Andretti is important, but he’s the last American to win an F1 season and that was in 1978! This reunites two iconic American companies with deep motorsports pedigrees and provides the opportunity to build on previous racing accomplishments while expanding international reach for both brands. F1 has seen consistent growth globally and most recently in the U.S. with 2023 races in Austin, Miami and Las Vegas. The Andretti Cadillac team is planning to submit an Expression of Interest when the FIA opens the formal process. If selected, the team is seeking to compete as soon as practical with at least one American driver. F1 remains enormously expensive and there’s no promise that Cadillac goes through with it, but it makes a lot of sense from a brand perspective. This is breaking news. This story is being updated. Photos: Netflix, Apple, GM I follow F1 from a short distance. By that I mean I pay attention to it but have no real skin in the game. I just like fast cars racing. Now, if Caddy is involved…I can actually root specifically for a team/driver, which is magnitudes better. It actually kind of doesn’t, considering that Cadillac has already committed to an all-EV future. You did forget one main reason why so many manufacturers are interested. The cost cap has drastically reduced how much you have to spend to be competitive. Ferrari and Mercedes were spending $500M/year and above to be competitive. Now you’re capped at $120M (not including driver pay, some top employees, and some other costs). Obviously they’d need to build out facilities so the initial cost outlay would be pretty massive, but sustaining your team will probably come in around $200M per year, which makes it much more viable and lucrative to manufacturers. https://www.heraldique.net/logotype/logotype/cadillac.html (Bring back the ducks, Caddy!) Also Cadillac had a Le Mans prototype in the early 2000s as well. I don’t remember it faring particularly well, but it was out there…and during that time absolutely no one could do anything about the Audi R8s anyway. Those things were absolute juggernauts. Anyway, I’m drooling at the possibilities of what Cadillac may give us performance car wise down the road if this happens. I’m here for more hybrid performance sedans. This is Caddy country through and through. We do it big. World’s drivers champs, meet our People’s Champ. The driver’s parade would lend itself well to some gentle swangin’. This must happen. Really, truly a unique-to-Texas phenomenon. That said, having a new team doesn’t mean you have to build your own engine. I’m guessing they’ll go with Honda, but we’ll see.
