Cadillac pay staggering multi-million fee to secure F1 entry

Cadillac has finally been given the green-light to enter F1 from 2026, but to secure its place as the 11th team, it has had to pay a hefty fee worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Sources in the Melbourne paddock ahead of the Australian Grand Prix have told RacingNews365 that Cadillac has had to pay around $450 million, with this figure being equally divided among the 10 existing teams. 

This is known as the anti-dilution fee that became part of F1's commercial structures as part of the 2021 Concorde Agreement. 

It is understood that the figure in the 2021 agreement was set at $200 million, which any team wanting to enter the series would have to pay existing squads to make up for the loss of prize money by the total being split 11 ways instead of 10. 

Some teams have claimed since that this $200 million figure was too low given that every outfit is now profitable and worth hundreds of millions, and in some cases, billions of dollars.

The current Concorde Agreement expires at the end of 2025, with talks underway between the teams and FOM over a new agreement to cover the five-year period from 2026, when Cadillac will enter as a Ferrari customer team before General Motors supplies an in-house power unit from the 2028 season. 

The process for Cadillac's entry to F1 started back in January 2023, when the FIA launched its 'Expression of Interest' process, with Andretti launching a bid with GM and Cadillac as a engine partner.

Although it cleared FIA checks, FOM rejected the bid in late 2023, but kept the door open for a GM operation, with Michael Andretti standing down in mid-2024 as business partner Dan Towriss assumed command of the project.

Initial entry was granted in late 2024 before Cadillac received the final green-light on March 7th, with the team having already named former Manor boss Graeme Lowdon as team principal.

In extension of that, former Renault chief Nick Chester has been signed as technical director, whilst former Benetton, Renault, Williams, and F1 engineer Pat Symonds has joined in an executive technical consultancy role.