Cadillac’s F1 Entry: A Win for All?

Günther Steiner believes F1 has expanded its financial pie, ensuring Cadillac’s entry benefits all teams without shrinking their share.

Steiner does not know what agreement Formula 1 has made with Cadillac for the manufacturer to become the 11th team in F1 next year. The former Haas boss recalls that adding an extra team was out of the question, as it would reduce the share of the existing teams.

“I don’t know all the details or how they got there, because I always thought there was a pie that had to be divided by 10. If an 11th arrives to eat the pie, all the shares get smaller unless the pie gets bigger,” Steiner explains.

“If the pie gets bigger… and that has always been Formula One Management’s goal, to ensure the existing teams don’t suffer any negative consequences.”

“I no longer have access to that information, to what Cadillac is bringing to the table. Something has changed because it has become a Cadillac team, and normally a major manufacturer brings more to the sport than a private team.”

“I think they understood that and expanded the pie so that the shares remain the same, even though there are now 11. If the 10 teams that have been there for a long time are respected and get the same as before, then why not?”

Cadillac would like to sign an American driver, something Steiner never did while leading Haas F1. He explains that bringing in a driver with potentially too little experience to a still-young team always seemed like a risk to him.

“It was never a topic [for us] because at the time, there weren’t many people who had a Super License. Pairing a young team with a rookie driver who isn’t used to racing in Formula 1 can’t be good for either.”

“If the driver doesn’t succeed, it kills his career. If the driver falls out with the team, it’s not good for the team. There was never an option for an [American] driver because when we started, there wasn’t much interest in Formula 1 in the United States.”

“Today, there are a few. But if an American driver doesn’t succeed in F1, there aren’t many benefits to it. We had Logan Sargeant in Formula 1—few people knew he was American, especially not in America.”

Steiner doesn’t believe Haas is at a disadvantage now that it is no longer the only American team on the grid: “With Haas, it never really made a difference… American or not… because it’s such a global sport. The only team that is truly identified with a country is Ferrari with Italy.”

“I looked at it and wondered why it didn’t work. If you look closely, Red Bull is a team based in England using an Austrian license, so it’s an Austrian team—but no one really knows that, and I don’t think anyone cares.”

“Mercedes is a German team, but is it perceived as such? Maybe not, because it’s such a global sport, and sponsors don’t flock to a team because of its nationality.”

“Red Bull, a team based in the UK with an Austrian license, has a major American sponsor, Oracle. Sponsors don’t care. They focus on themselves and on spreading their message worldwide, on what they want to represent.”