Formula 1 is expected to expand the grid to 11 teams as early as next week, with Cadillac joining in 2026.

LAS VEGAS — Formula One is expected to approve an expansion of the grid for the No. 11 team originally created by Michael Andretti as early as next week, The Associated Press has learned.

The team will be called Cadillac F1 and will be powered by Ferrari engines when it enters the sport in 2026. General Motors is expected to complete production of Cadillac’s own powertrain by the 2028 season.

Multiple industry insiders spoke to the AP about the grid expansion on condition of anonymity because the announcement before Saturday’s Las Vegas Grand Prix could potentially distract attention from the showpiece event on the Formula One calendar.

The belated decision to expand the grid for the bid started by Andretti is a reversal for Formula One, which initially rejected the bid despite the approval of Formula One’s sanctioning body, the FIA. The existing 10 teams, which have no say in the matter, are largely opposed to expansion due to the reduction in prize money and the billions of dollars they have already invested in the series.

The teams also argued that Andretti should buy the team rather than expand the grid. However, no team has put itself up for sale, and Andretti had already tried to negotiate a deal in 2020 that would have taken over the existing Sauber team.

The whole situation began to change when Andretti’s father, 1978 Formula One champion Mario Andretti, traveled to Washington, D.C. earlier this year to lobby for support for Andretti Global’s efforts. That kicked off a Justice Department investigation into why Colorado-based Liberty Media, the owner of Formula One’s commercial rights, was denying entry to the American team.

The Justice Department’s situation was not helped when Luca de Meo, the CEO of Renault, said in October that he was refusing to sell the Alpine F1 team because it was a very valuable asset to the company and called Formula 1 a “closed club” that made it “closed club.” very profitable market.

As part of the preliminary phase of the investigation, the DOJ is also believed to have a copy of a WhatsApp group chat between team executives that may contain damning statements against Andretti’s proposal.

The Las Vegas race will be Formula One’s third and final stop this year in the United States, where the series has grown dramatically in popularity over the past five years. Three stops in the USA – Miami; Austin, Texas; and Las Vegas, more than any other country.

Another significant change in decision-making was Michael Andretti’s decision in September to take a smaller role in his namesake organization and transfer a majority stake to the team’s new majority owners Dan Tauriss and Mark Walter, the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

While the Andretti Global name is expected to remain in IndyCar, it will be removed from the Formula One team as Cadillac plans to make it a manufacturer-led entity. Since Andretti’s bid was initially rejected, Formula 1 has always said it would reconsider the expansion request when General Motors was ready to take on a larger role.

Mario Andretti will play an ambassadorial role for the Formula One team, but Michael Andretti will be largely sidelined, the AP has learned. Michael Andretti raced 13 Formula One races in the shortened 1993 season, and many believe Formula One’s snub to his application was due to a lingering grudge against the former driver.

That same year, he refused to move to Europe and came from the US in what many felt was not a fully focused effort in Formula One. The following year he raced again in America.

Another turning point in the more than three-year saga is the impending resignation of Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, who was widely considered to be one of the biggest opponents of Andretti’s addition. Maffei said last week he would retire at the end of the year but spent the weekend in Las Vegas as the event is considered a showpiece for Liberty’s portfolio.

Executives from Towriss and General Motors were also heavily present in Las Vegas this weekend, but declined to speak on the record due to the sensitivity of the situation. The GM executives are guests of the FIA, which has given GM the full support of President Mohamed Bin Sulayem since its plans were announced.

At the time, the FIA ​​said Michael Andretti’s bid was the only one of seven applicants that met all the necessary criteria to expand the current Formula 1 grid.

Opposition came only from Formula 1, Formula 1 management and most of the 10 existing teams, most of whom openly wondered what addition Michael Andretti could bring to a series already gaining popularity and financial success around the world.

In fact, Formula One’s initial refusal to grant Andretti’s bid was extremely personal, as Formula One told the Andretti family that it did not believe it could field a competitive team; the Andretti name doesn’t give the series the value that Michael Andretti thought it would bring; and that getting on the grid in the next two years would be a challenge Andretti had never faced before.

General Motors, on the other hand, is the best-selling manufacturer in the United States, and its arrival has always been welcomed by all current Formula One participants. In fact, Formula 1 at one point asked GM to find another team to partner with besides Andretti. The GM refused.

The current Formula 1 grid has only one American team, owned by California businessman Gene Haas, but it is not particularly competitive and does not feature American drivers. Andretti’s dream was to create a truly American team with American drivers.

Despite his application being rejected, Andretti continued to work on the car, a racing workshop in England and created a job notice board for the future team. He simply will not participate in his operations.

There is also confusion over how long Andretti will remain with his namesake IndyCar team. IndyCar recently came to an agreement on charters for its members, and the final page of the agreement, a copy of which was obtained by the AP, includes a disclosure page that must state who has a controlling interest in the teams with what percentage of the organization they own.

In the copy obtained by the AP, ownership percentages were redacted, but the owner only had to be listed if he owned more than 10%. Taurisse signed Andretti’s charter agreements.