The Cadillac novelty
Today everyone in Formula 1 is happy about the arrival of Cadillac, a team that represents a giant of the automotive industry like General Motors. Especially since the results are disappointing and, at least for now, the American team is not threatening almost anyone. Yet, it hasn’t always been like this: for years there were controversies, appeals, condemnations, readmissions, with the FIA under president Mohammed Ben Sulayem on one side – that of Cadillac and the then Team Andretti which was initially supposed to give the name to the eleventh team – and Liberty Media and the teams on the other. Today it is precisely Ben Sulayem who celebrates the official entry of the American team as an almost personal success.
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Ben Sulayem’s revenge
“To say there were frictions at the time – explains the FIA president in a long video interview granted to the famous economic magazine Forbes – seems like an understatement to me. Certainly, the idea came from me because we had three races in the USA but no American manufacturer. So, when the idea was born, it was actually me. It happened right in Miami, when I came a few years ago. It was the right path to follow, to support the business, which is not just about money but the sport as a whole. And when I said it, my God, it was as if I had done something wrong. I just wanted to open that possibility, but I was told I couldn’t do it, and I was attacked for three and a half years. Would I do it again? Yes, but I wouldn’t have imagined it would be so terrible”.
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“Everyone was against it – adds Mohammed Ben Sulayem – because in the end it’s like a cake and everyone wants their slice. But then, if you divide the cake into 11 and not 10, it means the teams will receive less, they will lose something. But I would never have expected so much aggression towards the FIA and then towards me personally. And in fact, they did everything, but the attack especially from the British media… They accused me of everything. I told them ‘We are looking at it differently, but actually, having GM in Formula 1 would be better’. And now everyone applauds, even those who were against it”.
The (so far limited) competitiveness of the 11th team
The FIA president then concluded by explaining how the fact that Cadillac is struggling sportingly, at least for now, does not change things: “We did not expect them to win and be the fastest right away. It doesn’t work like that in F1. It was about having them inside, then the responsibility is theirs, not ours as FIA. We as a Federation had our role to play and it was to open the expression of interest for the entry of a team, we can have up to 12 teams by regulation. But it’s never about adding a team, it’s about adding the right one that will enhance the business”. “Then it is up to them to be on the grid, be fast, get on the podium”, concluded Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
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