Cadillac is undeterred by the headwinds against the Formula One entry of its project partner Michael Andretti and is “hugely excited” about the possibility of joining the Formula One grid as the US car manufacturer wades into the F1 controversy.
The brand of US major General Motors had announced last week that it wanted to enter Formula 1 together with Andretti. But like last year, the American’s plans did not meet with much approval, prompting even FIA President Mohammed bin Sulayem to express his surprise on Twitter.
Cadillac executive Rory Harvey says he doesn’t want to “speculate based on a few articles” and that internally they are excited about the Formula One prospects, as is Andretti.
FIA president bin Sulayem promotes new team
He does not give a direct answer to the critics, but insists that Andretti and Cadillac have a “very good proposal”.
“We would not have announced our intention to submit an expression of interest if we did not feel that this proposal met the requirements and gave us the opportunity to be successful,” Harvey says.
“From that perspective, we still have a long way to go in this process. The expression of interest and the details are not exactly known yet, so we have to do that as a first step,” he says.
“We have to submit our expression of interest and then see how the process develops.”
FIA president bin Sulayem had announced on Twitter in early January that he would propose an application process to the FIA for interested new entrants. Officially, however, the process has not yet started.
Cadillac reaffirms interest in F1 and wades into debate
Andretti-Cadillac has been the project that has most aggressively expressed its interest so far, however there are doubts from the F1 side whether Cadillac will end up being more than just a marketing purpose and used by Andretti just to get into F1.
“We will do our best in terms of our expression of interest and show what we can bring to Formula 1,” says Harvey, who sees the entry as “a big commitment” for the manufacturer.
“The partnership we announced last week will give us the opportunity to perform,” he says. “We believe we have a mix of skills across all the organisations to put together a package that will ensure we are competitive.”
Limited support for Andretti
Formula 1 had only sent out a sober statement on the subject, not even mentioning the name Andretti, and the Formula 1 teams have also been less than enthusiastic so far. They do not want to share their revenues with another team unless it would bring so much revenue to Formula 1 that the losses would be offset.
Michael Andretti, however, is said to have the support only of Alpine and McLaren managing director Zak Brown – everyone else remains sceptical, even if the American has brought the big US manufacturer General Motors on board. However, there is the question of whether GM is basically just an empty marketing shell or really making a contribution.
FIA president surprised by negative reaction
“I was just surprised because we have to support and encourage new manufacturers,” he said, defending his position.
From the FIA’s point of view, that was exactly the right way:
“GM wanted to come. We didn’t come to them. I can’t slam the door,” says the FIA president. “If someone like them comes to me and the FIA, and then we close the door…. is that fair? That’s not fair,” he clarifies.
But Bin Sulayem also stresses that this does not mean that any team can just come:
“It has to be credible already,” he emphasises. “Formula 1 is not just about adventure. It’s about sustainability, but not sustainability in terms of the environment, but sustainability of the sport itself.”
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