F1 Rejects Cadillac Bid

[slowshift]

Link: Why F1 rejected Andretti bid to join the grid for 2025, 2026 - ESPN

Although I haven’t been a major F1 fan historically (besides binging Drive to Survive during the height of Covid and watching a race here and there), I was really excited by the prospect of Cadillac joining the grid.

After seeing Cadillac’s success in endurance racing, I wanted to see them tested against the likes of Mercedes and Red Bull.

You would think with F1 investing so much money to attract American fans to the sport (they’ve added 3 US GPs), they would see the value in having a legitimate American competitor for us to rally behind.

 

[Matt27]

It's a hilarious rationale. "They won't be able to fight for race wins or podiums immediately."

There are teams that haven't sniffed being competitive, ever.

Red Bull has an entire second team that has 5 podiums in 17 seasons. Williams hasn't been competitive in almost a decade.

Gene Haas has a team that outsources basically everything. Alfa Romeo slapped their name on a team that sucks (and is becoming Audi).

But a family with actual racing pedigree who is competitive in Indy and IMSA, backed by one of the largest automakers in the world? They just can't compete, see.

 

[rdollie]

Based on what they charge for tickets for the American events vs overseas average (I only recently learned it can be cheaper to fly out of country to attend than what i paid for an Austin COTA event) , I'm thinking American F1 fans should boycott the upcoming season!

 

[CBH]

I thought it was ludicrous to turn Cadillac/Andretti down, but I'm glad they did.

If you look at all auto racing series in the US, F1 has the least potential for Cadillac. Only 3 of the 25 races are even in America. Add CA and MX and we're up to 5 - a paltry 20% of the total. In all those other areas, Cadillacs are not even sold.

To make it even sillier, we're going to be the engine supplier, and Cadillac declared years ago that it would be the first all electric GM brand !!

Sure Chevy will be making engines for a while, and of course F1 is actually a gas-electric hybrid drivetrain, but it still just doesn't make any sense at all.

F1 gets all the fans and attention, but I just can't see how it's wisely spent advertising money. Stick to IMSA (for the fun) and NASCAR (for the viewers).