Last Updated on January 21 2025, 11:31 am
Come the end of the festivities and as the dark, wet January nights of northern Europe persist, Form hula One begins to emerge from its apparent hibernation. Yet the long winter sleep is only an illusion, behind the scenes frenzied activity has been taking place at the various teams’ HQs and they are keen to deliver their creations to the waiting world outside.
As the anticipation builds this year, a glimpse into the future reveals that come this time NEXT year, the frenzy will be even more apparent. With a huge new rule reset for both engine and chassis design coming in 2026, the FIA has confirmed it will significantly boost its testing plans for the 2026 F1 season.
In recent years, pre-season testing has consisted of just three days before the first official race weekend of the campaign. This has been slashed from the twelve days just over a decade ago following concerns about teams being unable to afford the $500,000 a day it cost a team to run an F1 car.
F1 Andretti U-Turn was lightening
However, with new aerodynamic and power unit regulations coming into play for next year, the impact of these will eclipse that of the latest big change in 2022. As a result, the FIA has confirmed that the “2026 pre-season test schedule will involve three, three-day tests, in recognition of the challenges presented by the new Power Unit Regulations.”
As the US department for justice closed in on F1’s anti competitive practices last Autumn, a number of team bosses recruited lawyers to attend them at the USGP in Austin. Within days an announcement had been made by F1, reversing their decision to exclude an eleventh team (in the form of Andretti) but given a rebrand – now Cadillac was set to go to join the grid in 2026.
The speed of the U-Turn appeared to catch the F1 media and team bosses alike. Nobody had any answers as to why things had changed and so quickly. Then came the end of the season when some fall out became known.
Of course there was the threat of a massive fine coming the way of Liberty Media, the precedence being set by the NFL who were found guilty of anti-competative practices and fined more than $4bn.
Existing F1 bosses not informed of new entry
Even come Abu Dhabi a number of team principals has as yet had no formal communication over the decision to accept a eleventh team. Much of the paddock ya-boo political over the Andretti bid, was related to the fact the teams had inserted an anti-dilution clause into their latest Concorde Agreement.
This clause demanded as compensation to the existing teams, a fee of $200m from an eleventh or twelfth competitor. Whilst signed just a year before Andretti came knocking on the door, numbers of $600m quickly were cited as a more reasonable F1 entry fee.
Come Abu Dhabi 2024, the then Aston Martin boss, Mike Krack, remained unsure of how the decision to accept Cadillac had come about. “Well, This came a little bit by surprise or came a little bit unexpected. And I do not have so much information about it, to be honest. So I think we have to trust F1 there, FIA, how this is going to go.
“I don’t know about what payments are being made or have to be made. I think this will have to be defined going forward. So, yeah, I can’t say much except that, yeah, we will have to trust F1 that this is going the way it should go.”
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Wolff argues new anti-diction fee – “too low”
Whilst no announcement has been forthcoming from F1, there appears a consensus the Cadillac anti-dilution fee is in fact $450m. Whilst short of the $600m being demanded by then Haas boss Guehter Steiner, this represents a significant increase over the legally required amount.
One of the strongest opponents to an eleventh F1 team was Mercedes Toto Wolff. Now the details have permeated through over how the Cadillac deal will work in principal, Wolff remains unhappy and believes the teams criteria that that would not “lose out” has been breached.
Yet the teams receive around 63% of F1’s income, mostly distributed used through prize money and is therefore performance based. Clearly when Cadillac join the grid there is an extra team with which to share the revenue, but so long as revenue grows ten percent a year, the dilution fee represents just a single year where the existing teams are affected.
Yet Wolff prefers to look on the less optimistic side of the impact Cadillac will have when joining F1. “In the first instance, we lose out,” the Mercedes team principal explained. “We don’t know what Cadillac will invest in Formula One. The compensation fee, which is currently set at $450 million, is too low. It does not make up for the direct loss in income.”
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Cadillac wind tunnel advantages
Of course numbers and statistics can be used to interpret data to fit the view of those commissioning the survey and Wolff has remained firmly against an eleventh team unless they are a full works outfit. Cadillac will join F1 and buy power units from Ferrari, initialling promising their own power train design come the season of 2028.
Yet TJ13 reported recently expectations within the American owned car company have shifted, claiming their first F1 engine will be ready now only by the year 2030. Stefano Domenicali’s “damned with faint praise” response over the new FIA regulated turbo hybrids, where he claimed they were unnecessary and merely bio fuel and internal combustion engines would suffice, may well mean this era of F1 power is short lived.
So why would Cadillac bother to ever build one of the 2026 spec power units, they can hang it out and wait for the return of something they know well – the mighty V8 big block?
As if to add insult to injury, Cadillac who are now designing their 2026 chassis are not bound by the restrictions of the rest of the field in terms of wind tunnel and CFD handicaps. This was evident when Haas F1 joined the grid in 2016, as their status as a competitor is only confirmed in December, before the new season begins.
Hamilton first Ferrari test cancelled
Lewis Hamilton’s long awaited move to Ferrari was completed on Jan 1st 2025. He was denied a run in the current F1 car offering from Maranello in the post season Abu Dhabi test as Mercedes held him to his contractual terms.
The arrival of the seven times world champion in Maranello has caused more than a stir as the local authorities were forced to lay on extra security yesterday when Hamilton arrived at the iconic Ferrari factory. Fans from far and wide had travelled to see their new star driver and footage posted online showed Lewis greeting the frenzied crowd, signing autograph’s before thanking his new team in recently learned Italian phrases.
On his first official day with the team, Hamilton met with team principal Fred Vasseur and Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna – together with Piero Ferrari, the only living son of legendary founder Enzo. Lewis also spent some time in the Ferrari simulator and was introduced to his team of engineers, including race engineer Riccardo Adami, who previously worked with Hamilton’s predecessors Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
