F1 team bosses reckon the FIA will be able to handle the rules around the entry of Cadillac especially with regards to the Cost Cap and the ATR usage.
While there is uniformity going from one season to another for existing 10 teams in terms of the Cost Cap and ATR, but for Cadillac, it will be fresh start from 2026 onward. In some ways, it allows the American outfit to work on the project without any stringent regulations.
The current F1 teams acknowledge that gap, but feel that things will fall in place as they start their journey and that it is anyhow a big task to get a car and team ready in a short period of time. For long, the outfits didn’t wish to have a new team, but the FIA and FOM eventually decided so.
There will be dilution of prize money among 11 teams going forward. There was little surprise when the confirmation came about Cadillac, but considering General Motors is a big manufacturer, the current teams understand the thought process and reasoning behind getting them in.
James Vowles: “They should not, and I don’t believe they do, have a set of regulations. A) because they’re not finished and need to be ratified. So in the last F1 commission, we still have quite a few aerodynamic elements that are outstanding. And it’s the wet surfaces that are the tricky bit of it. Following that, if they are due to enter into 2026, they should fall under FIA ATR and also cost cap regulations in 2025. So is there a head start? It was potential in 2024, for example, when they’re completely outside of any caps, maybe. But I think it’s controlled fairly well under some FIA regulations. It’s for the FIA to regulate.
“As for the approval, I think, first of all, it’s a sign of how well the sport is doing that we have a major OEM like GM joining us. I think it’s just a sign of the growth, a sign of where Formula 1 is going. I don’t think there’s actually any defined amount of dilution fee. I think that’s a part of a ‘26 Concorde, which hasn’t been ratified at this point. What I’ve said all the way through is it will have financial loss for existing teams. What we have to do now is grow the sport sufficiently and from need to be aware of that in order to make things good for everyone.”
Mike Krack: “Yeah, I agree. I think it’s a monumental task to try now setting up a team for 2026 with also a completely different set of regulations. So there is also no governance around the time before N-12, so to say. So whatever anyone does before that is up to him, the FIA, or nobody has any means to regulate it. But then I think from January 1, it’s only 12 months to set all this up and make a car. I think that is a big task. So even if there was a small head start, I think it will balance out very quickly.
“The approval came a little bit by surprise or came a little bit unexpected. And I do not have so much information about it, to be honest. So I think we have to trust F1 there, FIA, how this is going to go. I don’t know about what payments are being made or have to be made. I think this will have to be defined going forward. So, yeah, I can’t say much except that, yeah, we will have to trust F1 that this is going the way it should go.”
Laurent Mekies: “It was very well explained. I think as much as you can consider 2024 as being a space where you could have a head start, by the time January 1st turns up, then everything will be well controlled by the regulations and the task is still huge after that. I think all together it’s a fantastic sign for the sport. It’s going to be pretty much all car manufacturers probably, except for Williams and us. You know, even Haas is also linked to a car manufacturers now. So it’s a battle of giants, and it’s another sign that the sport is going towards the direction of a battle of giants. And the details of the financials, they are still under discussion, and hopefully they become small in the big pictures of where the sport can go for its next level.”
Here’s Cadillac on PU set-up
Here’s Cadillac deal with Ferrari
Here’s updated F1 2025 entry list
Here’s new boss of Liberty Media
Here’s F1 on rotation policy with Belgian GP extension
Here’s F1 fans voting for best 2025 pairing
Here’s revised F1 2026 car
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