GM issue battle cry in Andretti F1 bid after 'outpouring' of support

General Motors Motorsport boss Eric Warren has revealed his team 'will not let Andretti fail' after receiving what he claims has been a global "outpouring of support".

The American manufacturing giant has thrown its considerable weight behind Andretti's bid to secure a place on the F1 grid via its Cadillac brand.

Although GM has agreed to supply a power unit from 2028, Andretti is set on being in F1 two years earlier, with the plan to use a customer engine supplied by one of the current manufacturers, with Renault the frontrunner.

GM is intent on doing all it can to support Andretti technically for those first two years, however, attempting to convince F1 it is worthy of a place before 2028 is proving difficult following rejection by the sport at the end of January.

Boss Michael Andretti, father Mario, and Warren have since held discussions with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali in the hope of reversing the decision. Time is now of the essence with the 2026 regulations due to be confirmed later this year.

"We made the statement from a technical point of view that we are committed to it and we will not let it fail," said Warren, executive director of GM Motorsports Competition in an interview with this writer for The New York Times.

"Our company races, and has raced successfully, in every race series we compete in. Anyone who looks will see that.

"There are many high-level, experienced F1 personnel consistently at our door. They see what we're doing.

"The people that know what we're doing, as far as developing the car, all the subsystem developments, the facilities, any of the technical disciplines, aerodynamics, all the CFD work, all the AI strategy work, in those systems, we race at a competitive level in a lot of series.

"We do not underestimate the technical challenge in Formula 1, but we also understand how to race.

"We understand how to recruit talent, and we certainly understand how to invest in technology and use the strength of our company and our partners that happen to also be many of the partners that the rest of the industry works with on a regular basis.

"We feel like we can prove that, are proving that, and we'll continue to do so. We owe it to our fans and the two brands to bring something unique to them."

GM is one of the most successful motorsport brands. Last year it helped teams to victory in the Indy 500, Daytona 500, IMSA championship and Australian Supercars, as well as finishing on the podium at Le Mans.

Warren claims there was an "outpouring of support from all at Cadillac and global motorsports" when it was announced GM would be supporting Andretti in F1.

F1's decision to then reject Andretti's bid came as a shock, and certainly with its wording that the team would not add value to the series. For GM, that has only served to entrench its position.

"When we read that response, it was clear we disagreed with it, and I think everyone in the world disagrees with it," said Warren.

"That was made clear with public comments afterwards, but it didn't deter us because we feel like we owe it to the support of what we've seen through the whole process.

"That really has driven us to continue to really demonstrate what we are doing. Some of it is just trying to be careful in the process, to respect the process, and when to get out ahead of it.

"It's navigating it and really showing the strength and the value of it has really what we've been focused on. We continue to show that.

"As the momentum builds and the value is crystal clear, we hope, we know we'll be successful because at the end of the day, we're trying to look at the sport, the global fans, and having General Motors and the support of the board, the entire company, has really added a lot more value.

"It's our job to demonstrate our resolve and commitment to that, and what we can do."