General Motors (GM) has reaffirmed their support for Andretti's embattled Formula 1 entry bid following a recent setback from Formula One Management (FOM) denying the bid. Eric Warren, GM's motorsport executive, has declared their unyielding commitment stating: "We will not let it fail."
GM's involvement through its Cadillac brand aimed to put forward an All-American team to join the Formula One grid. However, despite FIA approval last October, FOM rejected the bid at the end of January advising Andretti that they might be reconsidered for the 2028 season. GM plans to supply a power unit starting in 2028, preceded by leveraging a customer engine likely from Renault during the interim years of 2026 and 2027.
Eric Warren, Executive Director of GM Motorsports Competition, has been vocal about GM's strategy and their response to the F1 entry obstacles. He stated during an interview with The New York Times:
"We made the statement from a technical point of view that we are committed to it and we will not let it fail."
Further fortifying their entry bid, GM plans to enhance Andretti's setup with high-level expertise and advanced technological resources, focusing on car subsystems, aerodynamics, and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) work. Warren continued:
"Our company races, and has raced successfully, in every race series we compete in. Anyone who looks will see that. There are many high-level, experienced F1 personnel consistently at our door. They see what we're doing.
"The people that know what we're doing, as far as developing the car, all the subsystem developments, the facilities, any of the technical disciplines, aerodynamics, all the CFD work, all the AI strategy work, in those systems, we race at a competitive level in a lot of series.
"We do not underestimate the technical challenge in Formula 1, but we also understand how to race.
"We understand how to recruit talent, and we certainly understand how to invest in technology and use the strength of our company and our partners that happen to also be many of the partners that the rest of the industry works with on a regular basis.
"We feel like we can prove that, are proving that, and we'll continue to do so. We owe it to our fans and the two brands to bring something unique to them."
Despite the initial refusal, which cited a lack of value from a potential Andretti's entry, GM and Andretti remain in ongoing discussions with Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali. These conversations aim to overturn the previous judgment and present a stronger case for their entry.
Warren concluded:
"When we read that response, it was clear we disagreed with it, and I think everyone in the world disagrees with it. That was made clear with public comments afterwards, but it didn't deter us because we feel like we owe it to the support of what we've seen through the whole process.
"That really has driven us to continue to really demonstrate what we are doing. Some of it is just trying to be careful in the process, to respect the process, and when to get out ahead of it. It's navigating it and really showing the strength and the value of it has really what we've been focused on. We continue to show that.
"As the momentum builds and the value is crystal clear, we hope, we know we'll be successful because at the end of the day, we're trying to look at the sport, the global fans, and having General Motors and the support of the board, the entire company, has really added a lot more value.
"It's our job to demonstrate our resolve and commitment to that, and what we can do."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
