How a new team joins F1
Starting a new F1 team is hard, slow and very expensive. A new entrant has to be approved by both the FIA and Formula 1, and then pay a large fee to the existing teams for the right to share in the prize money. Cadillac is the most recent team to make it, joining as the 11th team in 2026. Before that, the last new team was Haas in 2016.
Two approvals
The FIA and Formula 1 each have a say.
The FIA runs a selection process to check the applicant is serious and able. It looks at the team's funding, its technical plans, its staff and facilities, where its engines will come from, and whether it can meet the sporting and safety rules.
Formula 1, as the commercial rights holder, then decides whether the team should be allowed in on business grounds. It considers whether the new team would add value to the championship, for example by bringing a big brand or new fans, and whether it would be competitive.
The anti-dilution fee
The prize fund is shared between all the teams, so a new team means a smaller slice for everyone else. To make up for this, a new team has to pay an anti-dilution fee, which is split between the existing teams.
Under the 2021 to 2025 agreement, the fee was $200 million. For the agreement that started in 2026 it was widely reported to have risen to $450 million, though the official figure hasn't been published. The Concorde Agreement sets out how the fee is calculated for any future entrant too.
Existing teams have a strong reason to be cautious about new entries. Besides sharing the prize money, a new team that isn't competitive can make the series look worse, and one that collapses can leave the sport with an embarrassing gap on the grid. Several teams that joined in 2010 (HRT, Virgin and Lotus) were gone or renamed within a few years.
How Cadillac got in
The story took several years.
- In 2023 the FIA opened applications for new teams. Andretti Global, backed by General Motors, applied, and in October 2023 the FIA approved it.
- In January 2024 Formula 1 turned the bid down. It said it didn't believe the team would be competitive or bring enough value, though it left the door open for an entry later, with a GM engine.
- During 2024 the project was restructured, with General Motors and its Cadillac brand taking the lead, alongside the investment company TWG Global. Michael Andretti stepped back from his role in the team.
- In November 2024 Formula 1 agreed in principle to the new entry, and final approval came in March 2025.
Cadillac's team is based at Silverstone in the UK, with a base in the United States as well. It uses Ferrari engines while GM develops its own, which is planned for later in the decade. Its first race drivers are Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez, both experienced Grand Prix winners.
Joining as a new team
New teams start at the bottom, so the rules give them a little extra help. They get the largest allowance of wind tunnel and CFD time (see wind tunnel and CFD limits), and they're brought under the cost cap and testing restrictions before their first race, so they can't spend unlimited amounts preparing.
There are other ways into F1 besides a fresh entry. A new owner can buy an existing team, as Audi did with Sauber before the 2026 season, or as Aston Martin's owners did with Racing Point. This avoids the anti-dilution fee and the approval process for a new entry, which is why most new names on the grid arrive that way.
Could there be a 12th team?
There's room in principle, and the current Concorde Agreement already sets out how a 12th team's anti-dilution fee would be worked out. Any new applicant would face the same two-step approval that Cadillac did, and the existing teams are unlikely to welcome another way of splitting the prize money.