The calm American ballad can, however, hide the most thunderous rock and roll. The validation of Cadillac is a very silent epilogue for the entire Andretti saga in which the GM adventure takes its roots. But in a sport as complex and with as many issues as F1, miracles can happen when the planets align with the ousters of Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media and hostile to the project, but also of the less than diplomatic Michael Andretti .
Add to that the interference of American justice and the resumption of the project by GM in its name, and all the lights finally turned green. However, Detroit had to pay the cash register by paying… €426 million in registration fees which will be transferred to the ten other teams. “It’s a pittance compared to what we’ve invested over the last ten years!” insists Helmut Marko, Red Bull advisor.
So here is the Cadillac project on track. Ironically, the Americans will first have to obtain supplies from the competition while waiting for their engine to be ready for 2028. Mario Andretti, who will play it Niki Lauda style by occupying a non-executive role, is in in any case shown to be talkative. “We should get Ferrari engines first.”comments the 1978 world champion.The deal isn’t done yet, but that’s the goal.”
US style, but not too much
2026 is tomorrow and the question of pilots is already being asked. Here too, patriarch Andretti spilled the beans without reservation. “Our goal is to recruit an experienced pilot, regardless of nationality, and a young American driver.”reveals “Super Mario”. For the identity of the famous young American wolf, all eyes are on Colton Herta, protégé of the house and who already almost ran for Visa Cash a year ago.
As for the experienced big name who must lead the team, three names come up with insistence: Valtteri Bottas, who could combine Indy 500 and reserve position at Mercedes, Liam Lawson if the doors of Red Bull were to remain closed and, above all, Daniel Ricciardo who would, if necessary, make yet another comeback. The Australian has the advantage of being very popular across the Atlantic.
In any case, General Motors has no intention of imitating neighboring Ford which bit the dust with Jaguar, the incarnation of the incompetence of white-collar workers meddling in everything. “A behemoth like GM can attract the right people and do things the right way. It can do it”comments Kevin Magnussen.
And to play the role of bad sleeper, we will remember that another giant, Toyota, has never won in F1 but has swallowed up colossal sums of money.
