Wolff wants to see Cadillac add value: 'The compensation now is too low'
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
In principle, Cadillac would become the 11th team on the grid from the 2026 onwards, however, there isn't a final confimation just yet. During the upcoming months, the final deal has to be discussed and agreed between the American team and Formula One Management (FOM). One of the topics is the entrance fee General Motors would have to pay to be allowed to compete. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff also hopes for compensation for having to divide their revenue between 11 teams instead of just 10.
The Concorde Agreement is currently suggested to have each team having to pay $450 million as an entry fee, in order to compensate their future rivals. That is because after that 11th team joines, the prize pool will be divided between 11 parties, and not only 10. Moreover, in the case of the Cadillac team, it has been suggested that the Americans can add more value to the competition as a whole.
'F1 teams lose revenue with Cadillac's arrival'
Toto Wolff, the CEO and team prinicpal of the Mercedes F1 team, is sceptical about the latter point, as are several other teams in the competition, he told to Auto, Motor und Sport. "Do you lose more as the pie has to be divided by 11 or is that compensated by the image where a global brand that comes with it?" the Austrian began.
The Austrian than continued: "The amount of that compensation, which would currently be $450 million, is too low. It does not compensate for the direct loss of income. Only time will tell what gains the sport will make with an eleventh competitor. If revenue increases, then everyone wins. But we don't know. Nobody has spoken to me about what exactly Cadillac is planning."
Still, he also stated: "If Cadillac comes with a factory team and invests a sizeable marketing budget in Formula 1, then it will add value to Formula 1," Wolff concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sárközi
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