And here come the comments saying this has aged poorly because they didn’t bother to listen to the opening few minutes of the video. Just TH-cam things 🤣 My mates over at the F1 store have some discounts this week, if you need to get stuff for tolerated ones this Christmas! Stuff is starting to get discounted, I got a new McLaren shirt from the Castore store at the weekend kekw. Today: F1FERRARI (50% OFF Ferrari Products *Exclusions Apply) 26/11: F1REDBULL (50% OFF Red Bull Products *Exclusions Apply) 27/11: F1MERCEDES (50% OFF Mercedes Products *Exclusions Apply) 29/11: F1BLACKFRIDAY (Up to 70% OFF Sitewide *Exclusions Apply)
Except all other votes!!! For the love of all/any speed gods NOOOOOOO!!! This is coming from a big Valtteri fan from the start of his career 😔🫢 Give us two best American drivers so they can show US their skills.
Since Otmar Szaftnauer seems to be the team principal, the whole project seems to be very promising. Due to this, Checo seems to be a real option thanks to all the years they have worked together.
Pato is on the slim chance list. Seeing him throw one of Hamilton's Mclarens at Sonoma last year showed he can at least handle the car. Whether he'd be competitive idk, but he should be better than Sargent, at least.
Not trying to predict anything here but I would not be surprised if after several years on the F1 grid that GM changes the name back to Andretti just to stick both middle fingers up to FOM and Liberty Media
2:38 The 5 week gap at the end of 1998 was partly due to the cancellation of the Portuguese GP on 11/10. In 1999 there was also a 5 week gap between Australia (7/3) and Brazil (11/4), although that was partly due to the cancellation of China (21/3) and its replacement Argentina (28/3). San Marino was then on 2/5, with Monaco, Spain, Canada, France, Britain, and Austria being held at fortnightly intervals. Austria and Germany double-headed, then it was back to fortnightly for Hungary, Belgium, Italy, and Europe before a 3 week gap to Malaysia then another fortnight to round the season off in Japan on 31/10. 12 of the 16 circuits in 1999 were used this season, with only Magny Cours, Hockenheim, Nürburgring, and Sepang not featuring a quarter of a century later. Imola and Spielberg both disappeared for about 15 years during that time, but have both made permanent returns. Of the other 10, and barring the Interruption, only Spa (03, 06) and Montréal (09) have missed seasons, so 50% of the schedule 25 years ago have hosted at least 1 Grand Prix every season for the last 25 years.
1998 and 99 was in the internet age. Not as big a deal as it is now, but I was on Compuserve Racing Forum in 93, 94, even if that's not technically the internet. Maybe it was the internet, but pre World Wide Web. It wasn't until the web came in, around 94 or 95, that non-tech people started to hit the internet. Senna's accident was pre-web but certainly discussed on the internet. By the time Villenueve won his championship 3 years later the web was already a big thing.
I have been picking Perez as the main target for the Experience slot at an Andretti/GM ride for a while because he could be a great fit while still keeping an all North American driver line up. Additionally, Checo brings a lot of extra money to the team and is adored in Mexico and I would not be shocked to see an increase of support for GM if they did get Checo.
I think it's hilarious that the embarrassing Audi soap opera moves along, while F1 is actively trying to stop Andretti from joining the grid. Andretti steps down and then suddenly they're being given the green light? I'll believe it when I see the car on the grid. The irony of Liberty Media being a US company too....
@@AoStoRmGodAndretti would say it's that but it isn't that. Andretti's financials can be found online for free, they have very few assets and nowhere near the income for a sensible and sustainable F1 entry. This is a team that has never designed or built a car, entering at a time of historically tight field spread and initially wanted to do it, during a cost cap, on the other side of the world from every experienced F1 engineer and supplier. Being genuinely honest, setting aside any desire for a new team for a moment - does that honestly sound to you like an outfit that understands what it's doing? I'd argue no, and given the whole thing is being built on insane risk, debt and sponsorship (which can disappear if they are badly off the pace, which any new startup team always is - only today it looks so much worse in a field this tight) Ensuring GM are the entry and not only a partner, Liberty know the team isn't going to collapse. GM have the financial muscle to tough it out, Andretti really don't. GM could, and would, pull out of Andretti. GM can't pull out of GM.
My bet is that GM will give mario a "special advisory position" with the team and make him one of the public faces of the team the same way that mercedes did with niki lauda. He is an "F1 legend" after all.
@@Zero41sv Exactly what I've been saying, and also adding that it should be noted, F1 management was very much on board with Andretti's entry at the start, but that stopped once they actually started looking _into_ the Andretti bid. Occam's razor, Andretti's bid was piss poor and F1 told them to come back with a better one. No need for conspiracy theories, but I guess those sell way better than boring reality.
Andretti taking Honda power in '26 seems reasonable, but if the team is General Motors/Cadillac primarily, it's actually incredibly funny from an Indycar point of view
There’s actually precedent to that, as other teams have run with multiple engine manufacturers in different series. At one point, Penske was running Dodges in NASCAR, Honda engines in Indycar and Porsche RS Spyders in the American Le Mans Series (now it’s Fords in NASCAR, Chevrolet engines in Indycar and Porsche 963s in IMSA and the WEC). Similarly, Ganassi Racing had a point in their history where they were running Chevrolets in NASCAR, Honda engines in Indycar and Ford GTs in IMSA and the WEC. Also, a quick note about the description: Haas F1 is actually based in North Carolina, but does have a secondary forward facility in the UK so that personnel don’t have to travel back and forth across the Atlantic between European races.
Putting conspiracy hat on. Alpine and Audi's entries are suddenly looking quite shaky. Having 11 teams could be awkward, having 8 teams would be a catastrophe. FOM have decided to bite the bullet and let GM in just in case.
Excelent video, Aiden. Especially the insight about Racing Royalty and Andretti-especially, Mario. Mario was/is a very rare driver. Stock Cars, Sprint Cars, Indy, F1. But as you say the name is AMERICAN Racing royalty (Thanks for putting Rossi Valintino-could've put in Kenny Roberts, but,eh.) Clark and Fagio are more famous the Andretti. Little extra fun facts, when Michael was racing in CART/IRL, whatever, our Canadian guy Paul Tracy, and Michael would have the best close/dirty racing. And when their tempers got the best of each other after the race-Michael would disappear, as Tracy is, you know , big Canadian, hockey, fighter tough guy. Tracy would end up fighting with another Canadian, Alex Tagliani. The fights were wonderful to show the drivers' emotions. (Tracy usually won-usually.) If F1 did this, I think Hamilton is a good muscular guy, more so than Norris or Tsunoda? Did Yuki take martial arts in school for gymn? Funstuff, eh, Aiden. Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.
While I can understand Liberty's caution as the last batch of new teams spent years being mobile chicanes (I know the loss of the cost cap made that worse but given how poor their budgets were, I doubt they'd have been competitive even if the budget cap stuck). I always however found the decision to deny Andretti puzzling as it seemed like a credible and well backed operation. When you have names like 'Visa Cash App RB' and 'Stake F1 Team' I also find the argument that the Andretti brand would add no value to F1 to be ludicrous. I'm not sure what changed Liberty's mind, but it's hard to imagine Michael Andretti stepping back changed the nature of the project so substantially that it suddenly made the project viable. I feel Liberty have made themselves look hypocritical with this one, but I guess it will at least be interesting to see what the GM project can achieve.
I'm guessing it comes down to US antitrust laws (F1 is about be sued in US for this reason because alleged monopoly), Trump winning and FOM manager resigning
Im pretty comfortable in saying that the US's investigation of Liberty Media for antitrust breaches has a lot to do with this change of heart. At the end of the day if you do business in the US you need to abide by their rules I guess even if F1 is anything but american in spirit ...
NASCAR operates fine within the US and has done way more dodgy things than F1. Honestly, I think it's hypocritical that Americans criticise F1 so much for not accepting Andretti but disregard the charter system that has been adopted by NASCAR and now Indycar.
I cant help but feel it will be unjust if this doesn't arrive as an Andretti team with Andretti at the helm. If GM is at the helm they will pull out the next time they get a new CEO or have to begging for yet another bailout
I think it'll be like the relationship Haas has with Dallara. Andretti will do all the tech stuff but GM is the registered owners. Like how Lambo was with Modena.
It will probably be Andretti but it will carry Cadillac branding prominently like Sauber carried Alfa Romeo branding from 2018 to 2023. But I hope the colors of Cadillac r part of the livery like White red blue black and yellow, latter can be achieved with Gainbridge as a title sponsor
I agree. F1 has become more and more a corporate investment scheme and that has robbed us. With the current closed shop Sauber, Williams, McLaren, Haas, Minardi and Jordan/Enstone would have never have been allowed to enter the sport if they weren't grandfathered in.
Right. What happens if the funding turns out to be suspect and they suffer issues because of it. Onyx met those criteria, scored points infact, and Moneytron, their main sponsor, turned out to be a scam, see Rich Energy. They couldn't pay for engines, tyres and development, so went backwards. With 22 cars each team is in a situation where Liberty Media can guarantee their survival if backing goes south or a manufacturer leaves
@@mattchambers8818Bernie Ecclestone would've taken the teams to court and forced them to allow Andretti or else! I don't think it would've taken this long either if Bernie still ran the show.
Really interesting mate, you’ve put a lot of thought into it. I absolutely agree with you drop the number of races and give us quality over quantity. The teams would be better prepared with fewer races and they’d have no excuses for their cars not being suitable for a track as they’d have over a week between races to STSO.
How about allowing teams to nominate four races a season they don’t want to take part in? Every team sends two cars to twenty races, and you can’t drop out of a Sprint weekend, so all teams have equal points to chase. First and last races of the season could be exceptions as well, where all teams have to take part. It could be the modern equivalent of the old dropped scores system. It would add a bit of strategy to the season. Built a low drag car? - well you’ll definitely not be missing Monza or Baku, then. Worth missing Monaco with a low drag car? - on paper, possibly, but the sponsors like it, so we better take part in that one - even if it likely scuppers the points haul we could maximise over the season. Don’t fancy the slog of triple headers? - maybe miss the middle races of them, then? Prefer to miss a few early season races and spend wind tunnel time/ the remainder of the cost cap on refining the car? - could be worth a roll of the dice. So long as there’s a rota that ensures at least 16 cars (or maybe 18 when Cadillac turn up) on each grid, I reckon this could spice things up a bit, make life a little bit easier for team personnel who travel to races, and still keep broadcasters happy. Make it so that constructors champions get first pick of races the next year, second place next, etc., etc., until the rota’s sorted. But lock it in before pre-season testing, for extra jeopardy. It would also have the benefit of ensuring no-one could ever have a clean sweep of the season - a minimum of two teams would win races in a year, guaranteed.
Audi join F1: Liberty & FIA build a mock up car, have a huge launch at the track, party, black jack, crazy times. Caddy joins F1: "hey bob do we have clipart of a F1 car? yeah photoshop a Caddy logo onto it, yeah that'll do mate"
In 1985 and 1986 27 cars were allowed to start during the races for different reasons as well. '85 was due to Hesnault testing the in-car Camera for Renault, also the last time a team entered 3 cars. In '86 they let 27 cars start in Italy and Portugal. Monaco only let 20 start until from about 1978-1987. In '88 26 was allowed again. From 1978-1981 the grids were 24-26 starters (26 only in 1978, from '79-'81 the grid was capped at 24 starters.) In '82 26 were allowed to start again. In 1993 only 25 were allowed to start initially (of 26), but this was lifted mid season. Very arbitrary and confusing!
Clearly I don't know what goes on behind the scenes BUT, if F1 lets in GM a short while after Michael stepped down I think it's pretty clear F1 just didn't want to deal with him. The question is WHY?...was he really that big of a dick? What is all the bad blood about?
Some fool approaches the team bosses at a ongoing race pleading to sign his paper to be allowed in. So screw the rule book at first attempt, what is not to want? LOL
Another couple of options I could see for an experienced driver are Tsunoda and a rookie Drugovich. The only reason I suggest them is if they do start out with the Honda engine, Honda may push for one of their guys (Yuki) or an Aston guy (Felipe). With their partnership with Aston starting in 2026, they might grease the wheels that way (and yes I know they will be obligated to supply them, but it doesn't hurt to say they will give them extra support if they use one of their guys).
@@wingracer1614 I will. But if he really did have the points and/or had one, it would have been mentioned by more than just two outlets and him. Becuase the whole COULD HERTA BE IN F1???????? Thing would have been massive.
@@AidanMillward Or, it could be that the entire F1 press have done little legwork around following Andretti because they didn't expect it to go through. It's not like Marshall Pruett doesn't have Herta's phone number.
@@Hibbardbrett Based upon his results over the past 3 years, Herta is sitting at 32 Super License points out of the 40 that are required. This is due to him finishing 2nd this year (30) and 10th in each of the past 2 years (1 each). If he finishes in 4th in 2025, he will get 10 and have the required 40. However, if he ends up being able to do some FP sessions, that will gain him additional points. 1 would allow him to finish in 5th, 3 in 6th, 5 in 7th, 6 in 8th, 7 in 9th, 8 in 10th, and 9 would just do the job outright. (He would be at 31+2025 result points+FP sessions, since his 2022 10th place would have cycled out of consideration) I know that Herta wanted to try and get an exemption or something of the like to get his Super License without having the prerequisite number of points (he actually has more now than he ever has in the past), but the FIA has denied those requests.
I wouldn't mind a "Cadillac" F1 spot. A proper American team (that doesn't have a Horse for a shadow) would be nice. I'd rather have a CT5-V GT3 and CT4-V GT4, but we're all good at wishful thinking.
It seems there have been at least exceptions made over the years, or at least the allowance of converting the race model to 2 doors. A Cadillac V8 Supercar would be neat though. It'd fit the bill better than a Camaro would, if you ask me.
6:20 Larry Perkins was the last guy to use a fully Holden engine in V8 supercars, 580hp, but the other teams using chevy engines couldn't get the special Holden engines even with bigger budgets and voted to ban it 😢
2:35 !! 101% I remember late 90's/2000's F1 well. Its absolutely night and day the amount of coverage and media F1 gets today. In the late 90s/2000s you'd watch the race, there would be some extra coverage, and that was it until the next race. I would buy F1 magazines to scratch my F1 itch. But ya nothing like today. I think the scarcity made each race a little more eventful.
Perez should sign on the dotted line now. It's not worth him bothering with trying to keep a drive at Red Bull next season because they can't make a car that works for him or anyone else other than Max Verstappen. It makes sense from a commercial point of view as well. Colton Herta is the obvious choice for the young driver from the United States. If they can't get Colton or another driver from the U.S. then Alex Palou would be a very good option.
Random bit of fact from America land! GM has been selling Vauxhall/Opels here with their US badges here for ages. They used to run pretty much parallel to Saturn/Pontiac. The VX220 became the Saturn Sky/Pontiac Solstice *Visually*. The VXR/Maloo were essentially Pontiac G8/GTOs. In the US, the Vauxhall Astra was an equally horrible little thing called the Saturn Vue. There was even a sedan a few years ago called the Chevy SS that was straight up, a Vauxhall Monaro with a worse front end but the marketing was basically non-existent.
Back when I was a kid Opels were sold here under their own name, the way Chrysler used to sell Simcas. The Japanese put them all out of business, but you'd still see Opels and Simcas around in the 1970's.
@@Eeklectic I don't think Vauxhall, under that name, ever sold in the US. Rover did, as a very high end luxury car, so you didn't see too many of them. I remember Triumphs and MGs being pretty common.
@@Eeklectic While you're correct about the "euro GMs in the US" thing, your VX220-Solstice/Sky reference isn't. The VX220 was a mid-engine Lotus competitor, rebadged Opel Speedster. The Solstice/Sky was a GM North America project to develop a Mazda Miata competitor(generally speaking, the would-be Solstice concept car they debuted in '02 got a massive response), and was manufactured in GM's Wilmington, Delaware assembly plant. The Kappa chassis is essentially a mini-C6 Corvette in construction(which contributes to their heft over a Miata). The Pontiac Solstice debuted in '05 as an '06MY, the Saturn Sky then debuted in '06 as an '07MY along with it's other-market twins, the Opel GT and the Daewoo G2X(Vauxhall never got a badge engineered variant). The Chevy SS really just existed in the US so GM could try to capture the lucrative US police cruiser market after Ford ended Crown Vic production(and NO ONE bought the big FWD police cars GM initially tried to offer). They failed at that, with the Charger initially taking the Crown Vic's place, and now seemingly the Ford Explorer taking the Charger's place, so GM pulled the plug on that one. Granted the state of Australia's local auto industry didn't help things.
As a NASCAR fan in addition to F1, the only major concern I have about GM entering F1 is GM going all in on it & reducing their investment in NASCAR or even pulling out. This concern also applies to the other series GM is involved in but would affect NASCAR the most since there are so many teams in NASCAR (about a quarter of the teams in NASCAR across the the 3 series) that are dependent on GM's support especially at the Xfinity & Truck Series levels. Those teams would likely fold if GM pulled out & even teams like Hendrick & RCR would be in danger of folding. The last thing NASCAR needs is for GM to pull out of the sport & we end up with just Ford & Toyota as manufacturers especially since Dodge isn't returning to NASCAR any time soon & Honda is likely staying in Indycar & not filling the void that would be created.
Out of curiosity, I checked to see how many points Herta has before I watched this video…and he’s one point short. I wonder if Andretti would consider Pato O’Ward to be another driver that could be in their lineup Also, we need a full BMW team so we can feed European World Hunger😅
SVG is from New Zealand. We love him, Aussies like him but we learned geography. Australian racing royalty would be more like Jack Brabham, Michael Doohan, Peter Brock, Alan Jones, Wayne Gardner, Casey Stoner, Mark Webber
@@AidanMillward fair enough, We still claim Brabham, Doohan, Jones, Gardner and Stoner, they made their names in Europe, but its your vid. keep up the good work
@AidanMillward No it doesn't. . New Zealand isn't part of the Australian continent. They are part of Australiasia and Oceania if that helps. But not part of the Continent of Australia.
@AidanMillward ---- Andretti is an Italian name, and the Andretti family has a long history of success in North America. Could Andretti use a Ferrari engine supply because of this?
I'd also add the alabama gang (The Allison Family) to the list of american racing royalty. They're the only family in nascar history in which two brothers were chanpions (Donnie/Bobby) and davey was well on his way to achieving the same feat before he was taken too soon, had davey not died in the helicopter crash chances are about 95% that we wouldn't be talking about dale earnhardt being a seven time champion, and jimmy johnson would almost certainly not have won at least a couple of his early titles. Davey's son caught the racing bug himself and is currently working his way up the development ladder in indycar (if I'm remembering the article I read a few years ago right) and has said that his ultimate goal is to "take the alabama gang overseas", so maybe he'll try his hand at WEC or try to get into F1.
If I'm General Motors and I want an experienced driver for my fledgling Formula 1 project, there's only one obvious candidate for me... Carlos Sainz Jr. I know he's under contract with Williams, but I doubt a driver of his caliber and experience would have agreed to join a back-marker team on a multi-year deal without having some release clauses in his contract (like what footballers have) in case a better team comes knocking. After all, he's already done similar before. Remember when he left Toro Rosso? I'm also aware that he turned down an offer from Audi, but can you blame him based on what we've seen from their leadership, management structure, and overall decision making so far? It doesn't matter anyway, I'm just saying he would be my favourite if I was in charge of Andretti/Cadillac. It doesn't mean he would actually want to join or sign. Between him, Perez and Bottas, he's the youngest so has more to give, yet he's raced for more teams than Bottas, the same as Perez, and has generally impressed at all except Renault. This is proof of his versatility as a driver, and he's generally good in wet or changeable conditions, which Bottas has notably struggled with at times. If you're a new team, you may depend on a driver who can capitalise in these difficult conditions during a chaotic race. I'm also of the opinion that Sainz's results against his teammates are generally more impressive than the other two. Yes, I am aware that the other two raced against better teammates or the same teammates at stronger points in said teammates' career. But, rookie Verstappen was a phenom, and Sainz was in his rookie year as well. If you look at their points tallies, is rookie Sainz vs. rookie Verstappen in 2015 worse than Verstappen vs. Perez in 2024? Sainz comprehensively beat young Lando, who was a bit unlucky at times, but was still no slouch either. Leclerc was already well established in Ferrari by the time Carlos went there, and yet Sainz beat him him in his first season there. Nobody was predicted that after Leclerc dominated Vettel two seasons in a row. Since then, he has continued to push Leclerc fairly hard over the next three seasons without much drama or team conflict either (until recently), but Leclerc has started to live up to his World Champion potential. His results against Hulkenburg are probably his weakest point, but not as weak as I remember thinking at the time, and I think he's come a long way since then. But, most importantly, he's been a big part of building teams up in the past. He was a crucial figure in McLaren's rebuild and then did the same again at Ferrari. He knows what's needed to succeed and progress as a team and has succeeded and progressed as a driver himself at the same time, at all levels of F1. He's modern F1's equivalent of Gerhard Berger. Experienced, has raced at the most prestigious teams, against some of the best teammates around, and has held himself well. Both were the men who beat the seemingly invincible, (the Mclaren MP4/4 at Monza '88 and the Red Bull RB19 at Singapore '24 respectively), and both seem like quite good fun to be around as well. As for the second driver, who knows? Colton Herta's looks as if he's the preferred pick within Andretti, but who knows how much that will count, let alone whether he gets the Super License points. I've seen a lot of people refer to him as "the Verstappen of IndyCar", but from what I've watch I'm not so sold. In fairness, I didn't watch IndyCar this season, but did catch much of the last two seasons. I'd prefer to see Palou, but that seems unlikely with his Mclaren ties, and the fact there's not much marketing value in a Spanish driver in an otherwise all-American team. Sargeant's had his chance and blown it, and that's coming from someone who liked and supported him during his junior days. As it stands, I'm not convinced Cadillac's second driver will be an American, but we'll find out. It might be GM's best solution to pick Sainz and either Perez or Bottas, making an all experienced line-up instead.
Its a public stunt. The Team is still owned by Andretti just changed name to save face for F1. I just hope after 1 year Andretti will be allowed in the Paddock
1:54 It would've been Forti or Forty? I jest. I do find the GM thing weird. I'm not a fan of Michael Andretti, but it does look very much like a "anyone but you" situation.
I do have a gripe with one aspect. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't F1 the one class where you're obliged to build your own car? Factories build cars, they field their own teams and/or sell the car to privateers, but F1 is the one class where you're not allowed to buy a car ready made. That's what makes F1 what it is, but it's also a bit odd in a way. No other class does that. Well, maybe Pikes Peak. I'm not up to snuff there.
@@AidanMillwardyes, you can. You can paint it pink for all I care. But while we engage engineers to design bridges, be it under contract or on the payroll, F1 doesn't work like that. Never mind fabricating the damn Merc. Oops. I said that out loud, didn't I? No. I think F1 needs to let go of that archaic idea of brands being knights. I wish they still were, but they're not. Bitcoin investment and brand pr is the thing now.
If Andretti was like Penske or Hendrick, I'd be more positive about the attempted entry. The hypothetical with Hendrick would allow Jeff Gordon would sort of address a what if from the new millennium by being the COO
@@corwintipper7317 You mean like Haas did? They were a successful NASCAR team that knew how to hire the right people to make a good team. No previous open wheel experience.
So, GM can afford an F1 team, but can't afford the $25 billion they owe the US taxpayers for bailing them and their employees out of bankruptcy. I know, there was so called creative accounting to make it look like it was paid back, but it simply isn't possible. GM doesn't create that kind of revenue to pay it back.
I'm not here for the latest, other channels do that. But as we're here... The regulations allow for twelve teams. As long as we're not up to #13, I don't see how any current team even has a say in the matter. If they do speak out, they only state that money is the objective, not the sport. So to save face, they'd better shut it.
I hope that it works out. I don't understand why an American company😊 in Liberty doesn't want a big American team on the grid, but many non-American fans certainly do. This year in particular we've been crying out for extra seats so that the likes of Colapinto don't fall by the wayside. Fingers crossed that it works out well in the end. Though I must admit that if Michael "stepping back" has been a condition for them to get their place on the grid, I will laugh myself sick if he (or even "just" the name) makes a comeback the moment it's safe to do so, contract-wise. 😂
Who would drive this theoretical 11th team's cars is only marginally interesting. The politics around F1 wanting another manufacturer, excluding Andretti, with an eye toward them building an engine, is much more interesting.
I'd like an update on Audi, if there's any to be had. Apparently, he who was trying for F1 was sent home, and the board did it. So... what's what? Are they still commited?
When it comes to developing an engine i wouldn't count GM out on being able to do it in 2 years, they have bottomless resources and more than enough knowledge to do something on relatively short notice. They supply engines to Indycar, which would be their most realistic starting point for an F1 "power unit" if they want to do it without going through a full on clean sheet design.
Liberty are being consistent here. The Andretti entry was being built on a level of debt and external reliance their financials (which are public) showed was borderline stupid for a new independent entrant, who has never designed nor built a car and aims for a deeply uncompetetive and expensive logistical arrangement in times of historically tight field spread and a cost cap. A GM entry is at least using their own money, the liability falls on the shoulders that can bear the risk so if they want to go for it, we know they won't collapse like Lola did when they are, inevitably, off the pace. New entrants have always been seconds off the pace and with all cars regularly qualifying closer to P1 in Q1 than the guy starting in THIRD did in the late nineties - what would once be an adequate showing for a new team will now look, comparatively, humiliating. People mock Sauber today - this is a team with three decades of experience and it shows, yes they maybe last.. but look how small that gap is wnd compare it to even ten years ago. All these teams are working miracles and the odds of ANY brand new startup entrant being on that level out of the gate is essentially zero (which is why Haas ultimately didnt build their own cars or base the team on the other side of the world from every knowledgeable and experienced f1 engineer and supplier) And its much harder to close a gap now than it was. I think F1, credibly, feared Andretti would arrive - run five seconds off the pace (once perfectly respectable, now humiliating) and collapse as sponsors pull out.. and they would pull out. By getting GM to commit to running the team AND the engine program.. theyll have to keep going for a few years at minimum.
The fact that Renault folded their F1 engine department has to be discouraging for Audi and anyone else that thinks they can just break in to F1 with a competitive power unit. I'm not saying it's impossible.. but sh/it.
Herta only has 31 super license points however pat o'ward does have 40 FIA Super Licence Points but they'd have to pay the big bucks to get him out of that contract. He also Drives the GM brand
It’s a shame it dosnt look like andretti will be the lead name but good for them. This is great. Hass has been fun and all but this is ‘merica. USA🎉USA USA USA USA The unwashed are coming.
Your timing is about 2 hours off. It's just being reported now on all the racing websites that F1 has "agreed in principle" for 2026. And as of Sept 16, Colton Herta has received a Super License so he wouldn't have to spend a year in F2 for more points.
I know. It’s almost like I spent part of the opening section of the video saying that it would probably be confirmed at some point on Monday and that I’d put everything together over the weekend.
I predict that, once Liberty Media's current CEO leaves for a new position in the company, and Cadillac is guaranteed a spot in F1, at that point, Michael Andretti will return to head his company.
I have my doubts if GM is actually capable of building an F1 engine. They haven't even built their own Indycar engine since 2003 (which was an unmitigated disaster.) Ilmor does good work though.
Small counterpoint, Cadillac's DPi and LMDh powerplants have been utterly bomb proof for years. The LMDh powerplant is my personal favorite of the bunch, since it's both the largest and revs higher than all but the Indycar-based Acura engine. 8800rpm out of a 5.5L V8 for 24 hours straight is nothing to sneeze at.
andretti called the fbi on their ex indy car engineer. they also called the fbi on f1 and investigators should to miami and las vegas to question the f1 leadership. they were scared how much money they would lose if they lost the case. hello andretti f1 team.
Hopefully Andretti gets onto the grid for real as a nice big L to the elitist fans that defended Liberty's decision to deny a team due to "not bringing value to the championship" when one of their teams literally couldn't bring backup cars for multiple race weekends in a row. Hopefully Liberty Media also learns from this and doesn't have this end up being their 2005 US GP moment that permanently derails any chance they have of attracting US fans.
And here come the comments saying this has aged poorly because they didn’t bother to listen to the opening few minutes of the video. Just TH-cam things 🤣
My mates over at the F1 store have some discounts this week, if you need to get stuff for tolerated ones this Christmas! Stuff is starting to get discounted, I got a new McLaren shirt from the Castore store at the weekend kekw.
Today: F1FERRARI (50% OFF Ferrari Products *Exclusions Apply)
26/11: F1REDBULL (50% OFF Red Bull Products *Exclusions Apply)
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Hello from a future timezone. SVG is a Kiwi. :)
@ I know he is.
@@AidanMillwardAustralia is getting some Cadillac suv thing soon, none of their cool cars though
What are the primary arguments for having fewer races on the calendar?
Botas's mullet could please americans !
@@anyajenkins4611 he gets the Alabama vote.
he gets Australia vote too
@@tturi2 definitely
Except all other votes!!! For the love of all/any speed gods NOOOOOOO!!!
This is coming from a big Valtteri fan from the start of his career 😔🫢
Give us two best American drivers so they can show US their skills.
Since Otmar Szaftnauer seems to be the team principal, the whole project seems to be very promising. Due to this, Checo seems to be a real option thanks to all the years they have worked together.
@@petouser checo has also been good in mid cars. Soon as he gets a good one he shits the bed.
@AidanMillward So Checo will stay until Andretti-GM gets gud huh.
@@AidanMillward Like Giancarlo Fisichella and Heinz-Harald Frentzen
I think checo does better as the leader of an underdog team. Take a payout from rbr and go to gm. @@AidanMillward
I think herta is guaranteed a seat. A sleeper for the 2nd seat is drugovich with his cadillac connection
I would LOVE for Drugovich to finally get a seat…
Pato is on the slim chance list. Seeing him throw one of Hamilton's Mclarens at Sonoma last year showed he can at least handle the car. Whether he'd be competitive idk, but he should be better than Sargent, at least.
Hertha isn't even close to a superlicence. At the closest he was 8 points away, one fifth of the minimum amount.
@@henkormel5610 hes 1 point away actually and even if he gets 0 next year somehow, 4 fp1 sessions in f1 would get him there
@@jeff119990 that would make alot of sense, especially because of his sponsors
Not trying to predict anything here but I would not be surprised if after several years on the F1 grid that GM changes the name back to Andretti just to stick both middle fingers up to FOM and Liberty Media
i wouldn't be surprised if they join under "andretti for 2 years until we're in the sport ourselves"
Think Alex Palou might be the one eyeing that seat up...
2:38 The 5 week gap at the end of 1998 was partly due to the cancellation of the Portuguese GP on 11/10. In 1999 there was also a 5 week gap between Australia (7/3) and Brazil (11/4), although that was partly due to the cancellation of China (21/3) and its replacement Argentina (28/3). San Marino was then on 2/5, with Monaco, Spain, Canada, France, Britain, and Austria being held at fortnightly intervals. Austria and Germany double-headed, then it was back to fortnightly for Hungary, Belgium, Italy, and Europe before a 3 week gap to Malaysia then another fortnight to round the season off in Japan on 31/10.
12 of the 16 circuits in 1999 were used this season, with only Magny Cours, Hockenheim, Nürburgring, and Sepang not featuring a quarter of a century later. Imola and Spielberg both disappeared for about 15 years during that time, but have both made permanent returns. Of the other 10, and barring the Interruption, only Spa (03, 06) and Montréal (09) have missed seasons, so 50% of the schedule 25 years ago have hosted at least 1 Grand Prix every season for the last 25 years.
@@Ramtamtama five week gap is a five week gap 😂
@@AidanMillward can't fault your maths
@@Ramtamtama just be glad I got the maths right this time.
1998 and 99 was in the internet age. Not as big a deal as it is now, but I was on Compuserve Racing Forum in 93, 94, even if that's not technically the internet. Maybe it was the internet, but pre World Wide Web. It wasn't until the web came in, around 94 or 95, that non-tech people started to hit the internet. Senna's accident was pre-web but certainly discussed on the internet. By the time Villenueve won his championship 3 years later the web was already a big thing.
It’d be interesting to see the Mexican GP grandstands clad in Cadillac and GM colors if you get Checo and O’Ward as a lineup
I would love to see Andretti back on the f1 grid. Give the Americans a chance to sink or swim. Don't sink them before they get there.
@@lucienswift447 Nice ragebait, but I won't fall for it.
Idk why f1 wants manufacturers, when the going gets worse they will sell or close the team without thinking twice, owners will try harder to stay
Yep, we need more racing engine companies in general in F1 and IndyCar, similar to a modern Cosworth type pf deal.
If GM enters the grid, you won’t understand the amount of support the US will give to its team. The sponsor money would flood in.
I have been picking Perez as the main target for the Experience slot at an Andretti/GM ride for a while because he could be a great fit while still keeping an all North American driver line up. Additionally, Checo brings a lot of extra money to the team and is adored in Mexico and I would not be shocked to see an increase of support for GM if they did get Checo.
I think it's hilarious that the embarrassing Audi soap opera moves along, while F1 is actively trying to stop Andretti from joining the grid. Andretti steps down and then suddenly they're being given the green light? I'll believe it when I see the car on the grid. The irony of Liberty Media being a US company too....
It’s just a bunch of Americans arguing over euro ish now. Apparently someone and Andretti gots beefs
@@AoStoRmGodit's Toto. He is desperate to never lose to Michael Andretti.
@@AoStoRmGodAndretti would say it's that but it isn't that.
Andretti's financials can be found online for free, they have very few assets and nowhere near the income for a sensible and sustainable F1 entry. This is a team that has never designed or built a car, entering at a time of historically tight field spread and initially wanted to do it, during a cost cap, on the other side of the world from every experienced F1 engineer and supplier.
Being genuinely honest, setting aside any desire for a new team for a moment - does that honestly sound to you like an outfit that understands what it's doing?
I'd argue no, and given the whole thing is being built on insane risk, debt and sponsorship (which can disappear if they are badly off the pace, which any new startup team always is - only today it looks so much worse in a field this tight)
Ensuring GM are the entry and not only a partner, Liberty know the team isn't going to collapse. GM have the financial muscle to tough it out, Andretti really don't.
GM could, and would, pull out of Andretti. GM can't pull out of GM.
My bet is that GM will give mario a "special advisory position" with the team and make him one of the public faces of the team the same way that mercedes did with niki lauda.
He is an "F1 legend" after all.
@@Zero41sv Exactly what I've been saying, and also adding that it should be noted, F1 management was very much on board with Andretti's entry at the start, but that stopped once they actually started looking _into_ the Andretti bid. Occam's razor, Andretti's bid was piss poor and F1 told them to come back with a better one. No need for conspiracy theories, but I guess those sell way better than boring reality.
Andretti taking Honda power in '26 seems reasonable, but if the team is General Motors/Cadillac primarily, it's actually incredibly funny from an Indycar point of view
There’s actually precedent to that, as other teams have run with multiple engine manufacturers in different series. At one point, Penske was running Dodges in NASCAR, Honda engines in Indycar and Porsche RS Spyders in the American Le Mans Series (now it’s Fords in NASCAR, Chevrolet engines in Indycar and Porsche 963s in IMSA and the WEC). Similarly, Ganassi Racing had a point in their history where they were running Chevrolets in NASCAR, Honda engines in Indycar and Ford GTs in IMSA and the WEC.
Also, a quick note about the description: Haas F1 is actually based in North Carolina, but does have a secondary forward facility in the UK so that personnel don’t have to travel back and forth across the Atlantic between European races.
Putting conspiracy hat on.
Alpine and Audi's entries are suddenly looking quite shaky. Having 11 teams could be awkward, having 8 teams would be a catastrophe. FOM have decided to bite the bullet and let GM in just in case.
Even if that were true the teams wouldn’t just fold, they would sell. (Which is what Alpine seems likely to do.)
Excelent video, Aiden. Especially the insight about Racing Royalty and Andretti-especially, Mario. Mario was/is a very rare driver. Stock Cars, Sprint Cars, Indy, F1. But as you say the name is AMERICAN Racing royalty (Thanks for putting Rossi Valintino-could've put in Kenny Roberts, but,eh.) Clark and Fagio are more famous the Andretti.
Little extra fun facts, when Michael was racing in CART/IRL, whatever, our Canadian guy Paul Tracy, and Michael would have the best close/dirty racing. And when their tempers got the best of each other after the race-Michael would disappear, as Tracy is, you know , big Canadian, hockey, fighter tough guy. Tracy would end up fighting with another Canadian, Alex Tagliani. The fights were wonderful to show the drivers' emotions. (Tracy usually won-usually.) If F1 did this, I think Hamilton is a good muscular guy, more so than Norris or Tsunoda? Did Yuki take martial arts in school for gymn? Funstuff, eh, Aiden.
Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.
While I can understand Liberty's caution as the last batch of new teams spent years being mobile chicanes (I know the loss of the cost cap made that worse but given how poor their budgets were, I doubt they'd have been competitive even if the budget cap stuck). I always however found the decision to deny Andretti puzzling as it seemed like a credible and well backed operation. When you have names like 'Visa Cash App RB' and 'Stake F1 Team' I also find the argument that the Andretti brand would add no value to F1 to be ludicrous.
I'm not sure what changed Liberty's mind, but it's hard to imagine Michael Andretti stepping back changed the nature of the project so substantially that it suddenly made the project viable. I feel Liberty have made themselves look hypocritical with this one, but I guess it will at least be interesting to see what the GM project can achieve.
I'm guessing it comes down to US antitrust laws (F1 is about be sued in US for this reason because alleged monopoly), Trump winning and FOM manager resigning
@@LoganHunter82NASCAR is also being sued by THE Michael Jordan for antitrust as well.
Im pretty comfortable in saying that the US's investigation of Liberty Media for antitrust breaches has a lot to do with this change of heart. At the end of the day if you do business in the US you need to abide by their rules I guess even if F1 is anything but american in spirit ...
NASCAR operates fine within the US and has done way more dodgy things than F1.
Honestly, I think it's hypocritical that Americans criticise F1 so much for not accepting Andretti but disregard the charter system that has been adopted by NASCAR and now Indycar.
@@nickklavdianos5136 oh believe me, NASCAR fans HATE the charter system.
Its not about Andretti and his team as much as its about General Motors getting in. I don't think NASCAR stops manufacturers from getting in.
F1 isn't American, there's its first problem.
@@nickklavdianos5136 yeah but the US govt isn't going to care about antitrust come January
I cant help but feel it will be unjust if this doesn't arrive as an Andretti team with Andretti at the helm. If GM is at the helm they will pull out the next time they get a new CEO or have to begging for yet another bailout
I think it'll be like the relationship Haas has with Dallara. Andretti will do all the tech stuff but GM is the registered owners. Like how Lambo was with Modena.
Andretti the man is the reason why they got rejected
In the words of the Ford guy when Jag was in F1: Who is this Edward Irvine? And why are we paying him so much?
It will probably be Andretti but it will carry Cadillac branding prominently like Sauber carried Alfa Romeo branding from 2018 to 2023. But I hope the colors of Cadillac r part of the livery like White red blue black and yellow, latter can be achieved with Gainbridge as a title sponsor
@@cyberfutur5000 Edmund*
Every team that can build a legal car and beat a given threshold in pre-season testing should be allowed to enter F1
I agree. F1 has become more and more a corporate investment scheme and that has robbed us. With the current closed shop Sauber, Williams, McLaren, Haas, Minardi and Jordan/Enstone would have never have been allowed to enter the sport if they weren't grandfathered in.
Right. What happens if the funding turns out to be suspect and they suffer issues because of it. Onyx met those criteria, scored points infact, and Moneytron, their main sponsor, turned out to be a scam, see Rich Energy. They couldn't pay for engines, tyres and development, so went backwards. With 22 cars each team is in a situation where Liberty Media can guarantee their survival if backing goes south or a manufacturer leaves
Their entry was approved by the FIA. It is the other teams that don’t want to allow them in as it would dilute the TV funds.
@mattchambers8818 tough shit I guess. Maybe they can try getting good
@@mattchambers8818Bernie Ecclestone would've taken the teams to court and forced them to allow Andretti or else! I don't think it would've taken this long either if Bernie still ran the show.
Really interesting mate, you’ve put a lot of thought into it.
I absolutely agree with you drop the number of races and give us quality over quantity. The teams would be better prepared with fewer races and they’d have no excuses for their cars not being suitable for a track as they’d have over a week between races to STSO.
Didn't know Tim Horton's was in the UK!
Whenever I’m at Merry Hill or in Birmingham I’ll drop in and get an original blend.
Taco bell, Wendy's, popeyes and a few more can be found in the UK now as well
@@TheDjsmurph was in popeyes when I went up to Newcastle recently. I cannot go to KFC ever again
As a Canadian, just lemme say I love the Timmie's cup on your desk lol
I think the other big names in chassis building should start looking for partnerships in F-1. Open-wheel convergence is fast approaching.
I agree about fewer races on the calendar they should make it 20 races in the season
How about allowing teams to nominate four races a season they don’t want to take part in? Every team sends two cars to twenty races, and you can’t drop out of a Sprint weekend, so all teams have equal points to chase. First and last races of the season could be exceptions as well, where all teams have to take part. It could be the modern equivalent of the old dropped scores system.
It would add a bit of strategy to the season. Built a low drag car? - well you’ll definitely not be missing Monza or Baku, then. Worth missing Monaco with a low drag car? - on paper, possibly, but the sponsors like it, so we better take part in that one - even if it likely scuppers the points haul we could maximise over the season. Don’t fancy the slog of triple headers? - maybe miss the middle races of them, then? Prefer to miss a few early season races and spend wind tunnel time/ the remainder of the cost cap on refining the car? - could be worth a roll of the dice.
So long as there’s a rota that ensures at least 16 cars (or maybe 18 when Cadillac turn up) on each grid, I reckon this could spice things up a bit, make life a little bit easier for team personnel who travel to races, and still keep broadcasters happy. Make it so that constructors champions get first pick of races the next year, second place next, etc., etc., until the rota’s sorted. But lock it in before pre-season testing, for extra jeopardy.
It would also have the benefit of ensuring no-one could ever have a clean sweep of the season - a minimum of two teams would win races in a year, guaranteed.
nice video, going to be intersting to see what happens
I am so excited for this. It's been what 10 years? Plus, seeing Botas x Ric on that team would be awesome.
Now you need a video on the past and current history of Cadillac and GM.
Audi join F1: Liberty & FIA build a mock up car, have a huge launch at the track, party, black jack, crazy times.
Caddy joins F1: "hey bob do we have clipart of a F1 car? yeah photoshop a Caddy logo onto it, yeah that'll do mate"
In 1985 and 1986 27 cars were allowed to start during the races for different reasons as well. '85 was due to Hesnault testing the in-car Camera for Renault, also the last time a team entered 3 cars. In '86 they let 27 cars start in Italy and Portugal.
Monaco only let 20 start until from about 1978-1987. In '88 26 was allowed again.
From 1978-1981 the grids were 24-26 starters (26 only in 1978, from '79-'81 the grid was capped at 24 starters.) In '82 26 were allowed to start again. In 1993 only 25 were allowed to start initially (of 26), but this was lifted mid season. Very arbitrary and confusing!
Clearly I don't know what goes on behind the scenes BUT, if F1 lets in GM a short while after Michael stepped down I think it's pretty clear F1 just didn't want to deal with him. The question is WHY?...was he really that big of a dick? What is all the bad blood about?
Still upset he was a bit undercooked racing for McLaren.
Some fool approaches the team bosses at a ongoing race pleading to sign his paper to be allowed in. So screw the rule book at first attempt, what is not to want? LOL
Another couple of options I could see for an experienced driver are Tsunoda and a rookie Drugovich. The only reason I suggest them is if they do start out with the Honda engine, Honda may push for one of their guys (Yuki) or an Aston guy (Felipe). With their partnership with Aston starting in 2026, they might grease the wheels that way (and yes I know they will be obligated to supply them, but it doesn't hurt to say they will give them extra support if they use one of their guys).
Theo Pourchaire, if they can get him out of his McLaren contract, which should be do-able.
Note: According to Racer, Sports Illustrated and Herta himself, he got his super license in September. If true, he's already good to go.
@@wingracer1614 and I’ve got a date with Nina Dobrev this Saturday.
@@AidanMillward Sweet, have fun.
@@wingracer1614 I will. But if he really did have the points and/or had one, it would have been mentioned by more than just two outlets and him.
Becuase the whole COULD HERTA BE IN F1???????? Thing would have been massive.
@@AidanMillward Or, it could be that the entire F1 press have done little legwork around following Andretti because they didn't expect it to go through. It's not like Marshall Pruett doesn't have Herta's phone number.
@@Hibbardbrett Based upon his results over the past 3 years, Herta is sitting at 32 Super License points out of the 40 that are required. This is due to him finishing 2nd this year (30) and 10th in each of the past 2 years (1 each). If he finishes in 4th in 2025, he will get 10 and have the required 40. However, if he ends up being able to do some FP sessions, that will gain him additional points. 1 would allow him to finish in 5th, 3 in 6th, 5 in 7th, 6 in 8th, 7 in 9th, 8 in 10th, and 9 would just do the job outright. (He would be at 31+2025 result points+FP sessions, since his 2022 10th place would have cycled out of consideration)
I know that Herta wanted to try and get an exemption or something of the like to get his Super License without having the prerequisite number of points (he actually has more now than he ever has in the past), but the FIA has denied those requests.
What about Penske? I would say that name is also American racing royalty.
@@kzaeytzev4810 I was going more for drivers
That true penske indycar great team and name in America but his indycars are designed and built in England
I wouldn't mind a "Cadillac" F1 spot. A proper American team (that doesn't have a Horse for a shadow) would be nice.
I'd rather have a CT5-V GT3 and CT4-V GT4, but we're all good at wishful thinking.
Those are both 4-doors, and I don’t know if GT3 and GT4 regs allow that. V8 Supercars, on the other hand…maybe.
It seems there have been at least exceptions made over the years, or at least the allowance of converting the race model to 2 doors. A Cadillac V8 Supercar would be neat though. It'd fit the bill better than a Camaro would, if you ask me.
@@Exponaut_R-01 Assuming Cadillac sells their cars in Australia.
6:20 Larry Perkins was the last guy to use a fully Holden engine in V8 supercars, 580hp, but the other teams using chevy engines couldn't get the special Holden engines even with bigger budgets and voted to ban it 😢
Yoooo the Credit Card R’Us was hilarious 😂
2:35 !! 101% I remember late 90's/2000's F1 well. Its absolutely night and day the amount of coverage and media F1 gets today. In the late 90s/2000s you'd watch the race, there would be some extra coverage, and that was it until the next race. I would buy F1 magazines to scratch my F1 itch. But ya nothing like today. I think the scarcity made each race a little more eventful.
It doesn't matter if GM-Andretti ends up getting same result as Toyota. Let them race first.
Perez should sign on the dotted line now. It's not worth him bothering with trying to keep a drive at Red Bull next season because they can't make a car that works for him or anyone else other than Max Verstappen.
It makes sense from a commercial point of view as well.
Colton Herta is the obvious choice for the young driver from the United States.
If they can't get Colton or another driver from the U.S. then Alex Palou would be a very good option.
Credit Cars R' Us 😂
Random bit of fact from America land! GM has been selling Vauxhall/Opels here with their US badges here for ages. They used to run pretty much parallel to Saturn/Pontiac. The VX220 became the Saturn Sky/Pontiac Solstice *Visually*. The VXR/Maloo were essentially Pontiac G8/GTOs. In the US, the Vauxhall Astra was an equally horrible little thing called the Saturn Vue.
There was even a sedan a few years ago called the Chevy SS that was straight up, a Vauxhall Monaro with a worse front end but the marketing was basically non-existent.
Back when I was a kid Opels were sold here under their own name, the way Chrysler used to sell Simcas. The Japanese put them all out of business, but you'd still see Opels and Simcas around in the 1970's.
@RRaquello I remember that now! That little Opel Spyder has a few good movie cameos!
Hearing the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky makes me sad those cars got discontinued.
@@Eeklectic I don't think Vauxhall, under that name, ever sold in the US. Rover did, as a very high end luxury car, so you didn't see too many of them. I remember Triumphs and MGs being pretty common.
@@Eeklectic While you're correct about the "euro GMs in the US" thing, your VX220-Solstice/Sky reference isn't. The VX220 was a mid-engine Lotus competitor, rebadged Opel Speedster. The Solstice/Sky was a GM North America project to develop a Mazda Miata competitor(generally speaking, the would-be Solstice concept car they debuted in '02 got a massive response), and was manufactured in GM's Wilmington, Delaware assembly plant. The Kappa chassis is essentially a mini-C6 Corvette in construction(which contributes to their heft over a Miata). The Pontiac Solstice debuted in '05 as an '06MY, the Saturn Sky then debuted in '06 as an '07MY along with it's other-market twins, the Opel GT and the Daewoo G2X(Vauxhall never got a badge engineered variant).
The Chevy SS really just existed in the US so GM could try to capture the lucrative US police cruiser market after Ford ended Crown Vic production(and NO ONE bought the big FWD police cars GM initially tried to offer). They failed at that, with the Charger initially taking the Crown Vic's place, and now seemingly the Ford Explorer taking the Charger's place, so GM pulled the plug on that one. Granted the state of Australia's local auto industry didn't help things.
As a NASCAR fan in addition to F1, the only major concern I have about GM entering F1 is GM going all in on it & reducing their investment in NASCAR or even pulling out. This concern also applies to the other series GM is involved in but would affect NASCAR the most since there are so many teams in NASCAR (about a quarter of the teams in NASCAR across the the 3 series) that are dependent on GM's support especially at the Xfinity & Truck Series levels. Those teams would likely fold if GM pulled out & even teams like Hendrick & RCR would be in danger of folding. The last thing NASCAR needs is for GM to pull out of the sport & we end up with just Ford & Toyota as manufacturers especially since Dodge isn't returning to NASCAR any time soon & Honda is likely staying in Indycar & not filling the void that would be created.
3:40 the 2004 Sauber C23 was based on the F2003GA, Fisichella even called it the "little Ferrari".
Out of curiosity, I checked to see how many points Herta has before I watched this video…and he’s one point short. I wonder if Andretti would consider Pato O’Ward to be another driver that could be in their lineup
Also, we need a full BMW team so we can feed European World Hunger😅
For purely selfish reasons i like f1 going into late November I would like this to continue 😅
SVG is from New Zealand. We love him, Aussies like him but we learned geography. Australian racing royalty would be more like Jack Brabham, Michael Doohan, Peter Brock, Alan Jones, Wayne Gardner, Casey Stoner, Mark Webber
I know he is. But he made his name in Australia
@@AidanMillward fair enough, We still claim Brabham, Doohan, Jones, Gardner and Stoner, they made their names in Europe, but its your vid. keep up the good work
@@wolfdan79Gaming also depends on whether you’re referring to Australia as a country or a continent. 😂
@AidanMillward No it doesn't. . New Zealand isn't part of the Australian continent. They are part of Australiasia and Oceania if that helps. But not part of the Continent of Australia.
@ all the King’s land to me 😂
@AidanMillward ---- Andretti is an Italian name, and the Andretti family has a long history of success in North America. Could Andretti use a Ferrari engine supply because of this?
I'd also add the alabama gang (The Allison Family) to the list of american racing royalty.
They're the only family in nascar history in which two brothers were chanpions (Donnie/Bobby) and davey was well on his way to achieving the same feat before he was taken too soon, had davey not died in the helicopter crash chances are about 95% that we wouldn't be talking about dale earnhardt being a seven time champion, and jimmy johnson would almost certainly not have won at least a couple of his early titles.
Davey's son caught the racing bug himself and is currently working his way up the development ladder in indycar (if I'm remembering the article I read a few years ago right) and has said that his ultimate goal is to "take the alabama gang overseas", so maybe he'll try his hand at WEC or try to get into F1.
Great to see GM on the grid, personally would like to see 26 cars on the grid .
20 race's
24 cars would be perfect for me
So the work in Cologne is not wasted
If I'm General Motors and I want an experienced driver for my fledgling Formula 1 project, there's only one obvious candidate for me... Carlos Sainz Jr.
I know he's under contract with Williams, but I doubt a driver of his caliber and experience would have agreed to join a back-marker team on a multi-year deal without having some release clauses in his contract (like what footballers have) in case a better team comes knocking. After all, he's already done similar before. Remember when he left Toro Rosso?
I'm also aware that he turned down an offer from Audi, but can you blame him based on what we've seen from their leadership, management structure, and overall decision making so far?
It doesn't matter anyway, I'm just saying he would be my favourite if I was in charge of Andretti/Cadillac. It doesn't mean he would actually want to join or sign.
Between him, Perez and Bottas, he's the youngest so has more to give, yet he's raced for more teams than Bottas, the same as Perez, and has generally impressed at all except Renault. This is proof of his versatility as a driver, and he's generally good in wet or changeable conditions, which Bottas has notably struggled with at times. If you're a new team, you may depend on a driver who can capitalise in these difficult conditions during a chaotic race.
I'm also of the opinion that Sainz's results against his teammates are generally more impressive than the other two. Yes, I am aware that the other two raced against better teammates or the same teammates at stronger points in said teammates' career. But, rookie Verstappen was a phenom, and Sainz was in his rookie year as well. If you look at their points tallies, is rookie Sainz vs. rookie Verstappen in 2015 worse than Verstappen vs. Perez in 2024?
Sainz comprehensively beat young Lando, who was a bit unlucky at times, but was still no slouch either.
Leclerc was already well established in Ferrari by the time Carlos went there, and yet Sainz beat him him in his first season there. Nobody was predicted that after Leclerc dominated Vettel two seasons in a row. Since then, he has continued to push Leclerc fairly hard over the next three seasons without much drama or team conflict either (until recently), but Leclerc has started to live up to his World Champion potential.
His results against Hulkenburg are probably his weakest point, but not as weak as I remember thinking at the time, and I think he's come a long way since then.
But, most importantly, he's been a big part of building teams up in the past. He was a crucial figure in McLaren's rebuild and then did the same again at Ferrari. He knows what's needed to succeed and progress as a team and has succeeded and progressed as a driver himself at the same time, at all levels of F1.
He's modern F1's equivalent of Gerhard Berger. Experienced, has raced at the most prestigious teams, against some of the best teammates around, and has held himself well. Both were the men who beat the seemingly invincible, (the Mclaren MP4/4 at Monza '88 and the Red Bull RB19 at Singapore '24 respectively), and both seem like quite good fun to be around as well.
As for the second driver, who knows? Colton Herta's looks as if he's the preferred pick within Andretti, but who knows how much that will count, let alone whether he gets the Super License points. I've seen a lot of people refer to him as "the Verstappen of IndyCar", but from what I've watch I'm not so sold.
In fairness, I didn't watch IndyCar this season, but did catch much of the last two seasons.
I'd prefer to see Palou, but that seems unlikely with his Mclaren ties, and the fact there's not much marketing value in a Spanish driver in an otherwise all-American team.
Sargeant's had his chance and blown it, and that's coming from someone who liked and supported him during his junior days.
As it stands, I'm not convinced Cadillac's second driver will be an American, but we'll find out. It might be GM's best solution to pick Sainz and either Perez or Bottas, making an all experienced line-up instead.
As a Brazilian I thought "What about Senna?!" and had a good laugh at Aidan's answer to my thoughts
Its a public stunt. The Team is still owned by Andretti just changed name to save face for F1.
I just hope after 1 year Andretti will be allowed in the Paddock
@@Darkmninyaaluhut2299 Hold that thought, because I strongly suspect the factory and such will be sold to the new entry.
Perhaps a curveball to the Experienced Seat, and this is probably more because of his Dads links to GM if anything else.
Kevin Magnussen.
👀
GM manufacturer team with bells on, and bellends off. Much more acceptable to me.
Did I hear a dead man say SVG was an Aussie?
1:54 It would've been Forti or Forty? I jest. I do find the GM thing weird. I'm not a fan of Michael Andretti, but it does look very much like a "anyone but you" situation.
I do have a gripe with one aspect. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't F1 the one class where you're obliged to build your own car? Factories build cars, they field their own teams and/or sell the car to privateers, but F1 is the one class where you're not allowed to buy a car ready made. That's what makes F1 what it is, but it's also a bit odd in a way. No other class does that.
Well, maybe Pikes Peak. I'm not up to snuff there.
@@Tacko14 you can design a car and then pay someone else to build it for you.
@@AidanMillwardyes, you can. You can paint it pink for all I care. But while we engage engineers to design bridges, be it under contract or on the payroll, F1 doesn't work like that. Never mind fabricating the damn Merc. Oops. I said that out loud, didn't I?
No. I think F1 needs to let go of that archaic idea of brands being knights. I wish they still were, but they're not. Bitcoin investment and brand pr is the thing now.
I would be gobsmacked if there isn't at least 1 US driver in the GM team.
Logan Sargent is available to crash for them.😉
Perez, Bottas, Tsunoda, Zhou, Sargeant, Crawford, Herta and Drugovich will be the main contenders i think
My bet would be Herta, Bottas and/or Tsunoda
Not a GM fan or anything but I’ve literally never seen a Renault on the road 😂😊
If Andretti was like Penske or Hendrick, I'd be more positive about the attempted entry. The hypothetical with Hendrick would allow Jeff Gordon would sort of address a what if from the new millennium by being the COO
I've been pointing out that Andretti's current "success" is a leading reason some don't want him in F1. Worse when you look back at the last decade.
That’s what I’ve been saying, Andretti isn’t even a top team in Indycar.
I think Liberty would still be annoyed with Jeff Gordon being the team principal because Hendrick has 0 open wheel experience
@@corwintipper7317 You mean like Haas did? They were a successful NASCAR team that knew how to hire the right people to make a good team. No previous open wheel experience.
@@alfamaize The thing is that Jeff made his living as a Max level driver in NASCAR rather than a good manager
If I were Andretti/GM, I wouldn't hire Herta for one of the seats. If one driver HAS to be American, I'd just go for Josef Newgarden instead.
Some other Aussie racing stars, Mick Doohan, Casey Stoner, Alan Jones, Jamie whincup etc
They should try to get Master Card on board.
Definitely, it worked so well for Lola.
L......O......L...A...... Lola
more cars, same races. The big worry for me is that gm end up taking over alpine and we're stuck forever with not enough cars
This is good news, with only one problem. Monaco.
So, GM can afford an F1 team, but can't afford the $25 billion they owe the US taxpayers for bailing them and their employees out of bankruptcy. I know, there was so called creative accounting to make it look like it was paid back, but it simply isn't possible. GM doesn't create that kind of revenue to pay it back.
I'm not here for the latest, other channels do that. But as we're here...
The regulations allow for twelve teams. As long as we're not up to #13, I don't see how any current team even has a say in the matter.
If they do speak out, they only state that money is the objective, not the sport. So to save face, they'd better shut it.
I hope that it works out. I don't understand why an American company😊 in Liberty doesn't want a big American team on the grid, but many non-American fans certainly do. This year in particular we've been crying out for extra seats so that the likes of Colapinto don't fall by the wayside. Fingers crossed that it works out well in the end.
Though I must admit that if Michael "stepping back" has been a condition for them to get their place on the grid, I will laugh myself sick if he (or even "just" the name) makes a comeback the moment it's safe to do so, contract-wise. 😂
Who would drive this theoretical 11th team's cars is only marginally interesting. The politics around F1 wanting another manufacturer, excluding Andretti, with an eye toward them building an engine, is much more interesting.
I'd like an update on Audi, if there's any to be had. Apparently, he who was trying for F1 was sent home, and the board did it. So... what's what? Are they still commited?
When it comes to developing an engine i wouldn't count GM out on being able to do it in 2 years, they have bottomless resources and more than enough knowledge to do something on relatively short notice.
They supply engines to Indycar, which would be their most realistic starting point for an F1 "power unit" if they want to do it without going through a full on clean sheet design.
16:20 Has this always been the closing tune? You happen to share it with one of my favourite podcasts, Kill James Bond
Considering how competitive Kick is how competitive will Audi be. 😱😱😱
Maybe they're sacrificing these two years so they can get more time in wind tunnel and also work on their 2026 car.
@@nickklavdianos5136 yeah Audi tell Kick to finish bottom so when they are in charge and start winning everybody says Audi are brilliant.
Liberty are being consistent here.
The Andretti entry was being built on a level of debt and external reliance their financials (which are public) showed was borderline stupid for a new independent entrant, who has never designed nor built a car and aims for a deeply uncompetetive and expensive logistical arrangement in times of historically tight field spread and a cost cap.
A GM entry is at least using their own money, the liability falls on the shoulders that can bear the risk so if they want to go for it, we know they won't collapse like Lola did when they are, inevitably, off the pace.
New entrants have always been seconds off the pace and with all cars regularly qualifying closer to P1 in Q1 than the guy starting in THIRD did in the late nineties - what would once be an adequate showing for a new team will now look, comparatively, humiliating.
People mock Sauber today - this is a team with three decades of experience and it shows, yes they maybe last.. but look how small that gap is wnd compare it to even ten years ago.
All these teams are working miracles and the odds of ANY brand new startup entrant being on that level out of the gate is essentially zero (which is why Haas ultimately didnt build their own cars or base the team on the other side of the world from every knowledgeable and experienced f1 engineer and supplier)
And its much harder to close a gap now than it was.
I think F1, credibly, feared Andretti would arrive - run five seconds off the pace (once perfectly respectable, now humiliating) and collapse as sponsors pull out.. and they would pull out. By getting GM to commit to running the team AND the engine program.. theyll have to keep going for a few years at minimum.
Vettel might be a surprise comeback, if he is tempted back. I am just glad Thierry Neuville FINALLY got his title after 11 years of second places.
What happened that Andretti is so personally hated by Formula 1 management?
The fact that Renault folded their F1 engine department has to be discouraging for Audi and anyone else that thinks they can just break in to F1 with a competitive power unit. I'm not saying it's impossible.. but sh/it.
Not really Renault has been underfunding their power unit division for years now. As long as audi takes it seriously they should be fine.
Herta only has 31 super license points however pat o'ward does have 40 FIA Super Licence Points but they'd have to pay the big bucks to get him out of that contract. He also Drives the GM brand
It’s a shame it dosnt look like andretti will be the lead name but good for them. This is great. Hass has been fun and all but this is ‘merica.
USA🎉USA USA USA USA
The unwashed are coming.
Your timing is about 2 hours off. It's just being reported now on all the racing websites that F1 has "agreed in principle" for 2026. And as of Sept 16, Colton Herta has received a Super License so he wouldn't have to spend a year in F2 for more points.
I know. It’s almost like I spent part of the opening section of the video saying that it would probably be confirmed at some point on Monday and that I’d put everything together over the weekend.
@@AidanMillward I'm just impressed you were ***this*** close to the announcement. Lighten up. It's not like everyone in the comments hate you.
I said GM wasn't going to be stopped. Let's shove on LS in that thing
Having a indy car driver in f1 will be great for both series
They need at least one driver who can develop a car. That counts out Danny and Valerri neither team got any further forward this year.
It will be once his name is completely gone.
I predict that, once Liberty Media's current CEO leaves for a new position in the company, and Cadillac is guaranteed a spot in F1, at that point, Michael Andretti will return to head his company.
So they wanted GM after all, just turned up their noses at the Andretti name. Got it.
I have my doubts if GM is actually capable of building an F1 engine. They haven't even built their own Indycar engine since 2003 (which was an unmitigated disaster.)
Ilmor does good work though.
Ilmor has had connections with GM since the 80s early 90s
Small counterpoint, Cadillac's DPi and LMDh powerplants have been utterly bomb proof for years. The LMDh powerplant is my personal favorite of the bunch, since it's both the largest and revs higher than all but the Indycar-based Acura engine. 8800rpm out of a 5.5L V8 for 24 hours straight is nothing to sneeze at.
@@griffinfaulkner3514 Fair enough, but I've never doubted their sportscar engines. It's their Formula Car ones I'm worried about.
@palm92 there is enough knowledge available from 3rd parties in the US that GM can lean on. Ilmor being one
@@TheDjsmurph I would imagine Ilmor's UK base would be making the engines and hybrid components no?
andretti called the fbi on their ex indy car engineer. they also called the fbi on f1 and investigators should to miami and las vegas to question the f1 leadership. they were scared how much money they would lose if they lost the case. hello andretti f1 team.
Kevin Magnussen and Theo Pourchaire would be perfect
9:33 McLaren have a contract with Mercedes as their engine supplier through to 2030.
@@NielsHeldens oh wow. This might actually be something I forgot!
Everyone, who watched 'Loaded Weapon' cannot hold their laughter, when it is about 'GM = General Motaz'.
Lovely dig at the click-bait kack at the end.
@@JohnSmithShields thing is: everyone will be able to name at least three different people.
They want American races American fans American money but don’t want American teams American owners American drivers American manufacturers
Hopefully Andretti gets onto the grid for real as a nice big L to the elitist fans that defended Liberty's decision to deny a team due to "not bringing value to the championship" when one of their teams literally couldn't bring backup cars for multiple race weekends in a row. Hopefully Liberty Media also learns from this and doesn't have this end up being their 2005 US GP moment that permanently derails any chance they have of attracting US fans.
on the other hand, we're in due time of "manufacturer underestimated the cost of running an F1 team" news.