Racing Bulls Team Principal Laurent Mekies has claimed that the impending arrival of Cadillac in 2026 will transform Formula 1 into “the battle of giants”.
F1 announced last November that Cadillac has obtained an agreement in principle for the American marque to come onto the F1 grid as an 11th team in 2026.
Cadillac will enter as a Ferrari power unit customer before bringing its own engine to the table in 2028 to become a fully fledged works entry.
But even before that, Mekies acknowledged during a press conference in Qatar last year that F1 is becoming a battleground for big-name corporations.
“I think all together it’s a fantastic sign for the sport,” Mekies said of Cadillac’s impending arrival to the F1 grid.
“It’s going to be pretty much all car manufacturers probably, except for Williams and us [Racing Bulls].
“You know, even Haas is also linked to a car manufacturer 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.”
Cadillac will be one of six OEM entries in 2028 joining Audi, Red Bull, Honda, Ferrari and Mercedes.
McLaren and Alpine are globally recognised brands outside of F1 and as Mekies points out, Haas has Toyota in its camp, proving the series is indeed becoming a canvas for international manufacturers, leaving Racing Bulls and Williams as purely racing brands.
Racing Bulls seeking to ‘understand’ terms of Cadillac F1 entry fee
Cadillac is in discussions with Formula One Management (FOM) regarding a commercial agreement.
Meanwhile, a new Concorde Agreement will commence in 2026 and the existing 10 outfits want to know what Cadillac’s anti-dilution fee will be.
The outgoing Concorde Agreement incorporated an anti-dilution fee of $200 million but the value of F1’s teams has since grown with each squad approximately valued at least $1 billion.
As a result, teams are seeking a higher anti-dilution fee and Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer has explained why.
“We’re trying to understand from Formula 1 if there will be sort of an anti-dilution support, you can call it entry fee, anti-dilution fee, whatever you want to call it,” Bayer told RacingNews365.
“What people maybe don’t know is just take our team, which is a relatively small team in terms of size numbers, compared to the top four, five.
“If you look back at 2005 and when Mr. Mateschitz was asked to buy Minardi to keep it alive, and you add up what he invested from then until today, cash in.
“So that’s not like things to write-off, or tax optimisation that’s proper take my money.
“Then in the case of our team, and I think it’s the same with probably Williams, and the same with all of the teams up and down the paddock, you’re talking a billion dollars.”
READ MORE – Cadillac F1 signs ex-Haas stalwart as Team Manager
Discussion about this post