It proved a turbulent process that saw the project renamed and dragged out across four years.
Detailed here is exactly how the Andretti Global effort transformed from trying to buy its way onto the grid via Sauber, to launching an all-new F1 team with General Motors backing.
Cadillac F1 entry timeline
August 2021: News breaks that Michael Andretti was attempting to buy the Sauber F1 team for a rumoured €350 million.
October 2021: Discussions with Sauber breakdown over ultimate control of the organisation and the team is ultimately sold to Audi.
February 2022: Mario Andretti takes to social media to reveal his son, Michael, had submitted an entry to the FIA in an attempt to join the F1 grid in 2024.
A week later, Mario confirms his son had signed a deal with Renault for a supply of engines.
January 2023: FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem announces an expressions of interest process for prospective F1 teams would open the following month.
February 2023: The FIA opens expressions of interest process.
May 2023: Of the seven expressions of interest received by the FIA, three were ruled out with four progressing to the initial evaluation stage.
October 2023: On October 3, the FIA announces only one submission, Andretti Global, has progressed to the ‘next stage’ of the process where it would be evaluated by the sport’s commercial rights holder.
In the middle of the month, then-Alpine boss Bruno Famin revealed the contract between Andretti and Renault for a customer supply of engines had expired.
November 2023: General Motors announced it will enter Formula 1 as a power unit manufacturer.
January 2024: On the final day of the month, Formula 1 Management announced its rejection of the Andretti Global bid with a lengthy statement. Chief among its rejection rationale was the plan to obtain power units courtesy of F1’s ‘obligation to supply’ regulations.
May 2024: Mario Andretti visited Capital Hill, after which 12 United States senators wrote to Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei asking for further details on the rejection of the Andretti bid.
Just two days later, Mario Andretti and Maffei have a frank exchange at a breakfast event during the Miami Grand Prix weekend, where Maffei is alleged to have said: “I will do everything in my power to see that Michael [Andretti] never enters Formula 1.”
Not long after that event, the Committee of the Judiciary sent a letter to Maffei and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali also seeking clarification on a number of pointed topics related to the Andretti rejection.
Towards the end of the month, a letter is sent to the Deputy Attorney General requesting an investigation into Andretti’s failure to secure a berth on the F1 grid for 2025.
August 2024: Maffei reveals a Department of Justice investigation was underway.
September 2024: Michael Andretti steps down from his role heading Andretti Global with Dan Towriss taking up the day-to-day operations.
October 2024: F1 visits the United States for the first time since the DOJ investigation began, with five team principals contacted by investigators.
November 2024: Liberty Media boss Greg Maffei announces he’ll leave the role he’d held for 18 years at the end of 2024 after opting not to sign a new contract.
Less than two weeks later, FBI agents were active in the Las Vegas Grand Prix paddock as part of the DOJ investigation.
In the days that followed that event, Formula 1 Management announced an agreement in principle with the rebranded Cadillac entry, effectively granting it entry to F1 for 2026 pending agreement of commercial terms and reassessment of the operation by the FIA.
December 2024: Underlying company documents associated with the project see it renamed from Andretti Racing Limited to Cadillac Formula Racing Limited.
A deal is agreed with Ferrari to use the Italian marque’s engines and gearboxes until the General Motors supply is ready.
While F1 is in Abu Dhabi for its season finale, ex-Manor boss Graeme Lowdon is named Cadillac team principal.
March 2025: More than two years after the process started, Cadillac receives the green light to join the F1 grid in 2026 after agreeing commercial terms with Formula 1 Management.
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