F1 | General Motors confident in Andretti-Cadillac candidacy

General Motors has released its first official comment since F1 rejected the offer on January 31. Jim Campbell, GM vice president for motorsports, said the project is still progressing “at pace.”

Speaking at Daytona on Friday, Campbell also reiterated that the team had requested a meeting with F1 after an invitation sent by the commercial rights holder to Andretti in December was lost due to an IT problem.

The offer was approved by the FIA ​​in October before going to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and his colleagues as the next stage in the process. Last month's rejection statement cast doubt on the potential competitiveness of the project, especially in its initial guise with a customer Renault power unit.

But he left the door open for a different reaction when the Cadillac powertrain is ready in 2028 and the team is a company. “Regarding our application with Andretti, we are very pleased,” Campbell said.

“The FIA ​​has examined it against other candidates and has given our application a vote of confidence and approval. Obviously the FOM has made its statement and we have asked for a verification meeting with the latter, so we will work on it We believe that Andretti and Cadillac are capable of bringing a competitive car to the track.”

“We're not saying it's easy, but our two organizations have examples in their history of success in other motorsport categories, and that goes for both Cadillac and Andretti. That said, our joint teams are continuing to develop our car at fast pace. So, this is where we are,” he continues.

Campbell downplayed the idea that GM was offended by a statement that suggested the project would not be competitive: “As I said, we believe in the application that we submitted. There we laid out the capabilities of both Andretti as a race team, both of Cadillac as a manufacturing and engineering entity. We therefore feel confident in our candidacy and request a meeting with FOM.”

When asked if the Cadillac powertrain could be ready before 2028, Campbell pointed out that the brand is still limited by FIA regulations: “When you sign up for a power unit, there's a deadline to do that, and for us it was last June for 2028. If you wanted to develop an engine earlier, you would have to register the previous year. So, it's simply a regulation.”