Formula 1 said it had reached an agreement in principle with General Motors to support bringing GM/Cadillac onto the grid in 2026, clearing the way for what would become the sport’s 11th team. The announcement marked a major shift after months in which the project had been rejected, reworked and discussed again behind the scenes.

The governing company’s statement said it had maintained dialogue with GM and its partners at TWG Global after a commercial assessment earlier in 2024. According to Formula 1, the parties had made operational progress and showed enough commitment to move the process forward. The statement also said GM would enter as a future engine supplier at a later time, which suggests the initial project is broader than a one-off branding exercise.

The significance is partly numerical. If the entry proceeds, the grid will rise above 10 teams for the first time since 2016. That matters in a sport where the number of entries shapes the distribution of exposure, television time and commercial value. It also means two U.S.-based teams would be present at the same time, with Haas already established and GM/Cadillac arriving as a new American brand-led project.

The route to this point was not smooth. Front Office Sports reported that Formula 1 had rejected an earlier Andretti-led bid in January, a decision that had even sparked federal scrutiny. Michael Andretti later stepped away from the company, handing leadership to Dan Towriss and Mark Walter, and the project kept evolving around General Motors’ involvement. The new announcement showed that the revised structure had reached a different level of acceptance.

Formula 1 and Liberty Media framed the move as part of the sport’s U.S. growth strategy. Greg Maffei said welcoming GM/Cadillac could bring additional value and interest to the championship, while Stefano Domenicali described the brand’s commitment as an important demonstration of the sport’s evolution. GM’s own statement said the move would let it show engineering expertise and technology leadership on the world stage. Those comments point to the commercial and symbolic value of the deal as much as to the sporting one.

The American market has already become more central to Formula 1’s calendar, with Miami and Las Vegas joining the schedule in recent years. The proposed GM/Cadillac entry fits that broader pattern of expansion, not just in the United States but in the sport’s global identity. In that sense, the announcement is about more than one team. It is about where F1 expects the next phase of growth to come from.

There are still unanswered questions. The sources do not say which driver lineup GM will use, whether an American driver is likely, or exactly when engine supply will begin. They also leave open the operational details that still need to be completed before 2026. But the central fact is clear: Formula 1 has moved from rejection to an agreement in principle with General Motors, and that alone changes the shape of the grid conversation.

For a sport that has increasingly sold itself as both premium entertainment and global technology showcase, the arrival of GM/Cadillac would add a new manufacturer name and a stronger American presence. The deal is not finished in the fullest sense, but it has gone far enough to make the next stage of F1’s expansion look tangible rather than theoretical.