Formula 1 Qatar GP
F1 must "put forward correct proposal" for Cadillac anti-dilution fee - Vowles
Formula 1's anti-dilution fee exists to stop current teams losing a small percentage of prize money with 11th team
Jake Boxall-Legge
Published: Nov 29, 2024, 4:49 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
James Vowles, Team Principal, Williams Racing, in the the team representatives press conference
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
The arrival of Cadillac as Formula 1's 11th team in 2026 must be met with adequate compensation for dilution in prize money earnings for the existing teams, says Williams team boss James Vowles.
F1's Concorde Agreement, which defines the prize money columns in F1, sets out an anti-dilution fee that any accepted new teams must pay to offset any loss in earnings. The current agreement puts this value at $200 million, although this expires at the end of 2025.
A new sum is yet to be formally agreed for 2026, although the teams had earlier wanted to hike the fee up to $600 million - noting the growth of F1 since the current agreement was signed.
Read Also:
Formula 1Why General Motors got the green light that Andretti did not
Formula 1Exclusive: Mario Andretti on "personal" factors that meant Michael was not part of Cadillac F1 plan
Vowles, who had outlaid his opposition to the initial Andretti entry a year ago on the basis that it would cost Williams, said that he was always in support of General Motors and Cadillac entering F1 - and added that it was now up to the championship's commercial rights holder FOM to adequately mitigate any financial impact.
"To have a major OEM like GM joining us, I think it's just a sign of the growth, a sign of where Formula 1 is going," Vowles said.
"I don't think there's actually any defined amount of dilution fee. That's a part of the 2026 Concorde Agreement, which hasn't been ratified at this point.
"What I've said all the way through is it will have financial loss for existing teams. What we have to do now is grow the sport sufficiently and FOM need to be aware of that in order to make things good for everyone.
"It's down to them to put forward a correct proposal."
RB team principal Laurent Mekies agreed with Vowles' assessment, adding that GM's addition to the grid expands on F1's "battle of giants" with another manufacturer entity.
He hopes that the discussion over the correct remuneration for teams will ultimately become a small footnote in F1's growth.
"It's a fantastic sign for the sport; it's going to be pretty much all car manufacturers probably except for Williams and us - even Haas is also linked to a car manufacturer now," he said.
Laurent Mekies, Team Principal, VCARB Formula One Team
Photo by: Erik Junius
"[F1 is] a battle of giants, and it's another sign that the sport is going towards that direction of a battle of giants.
"Details of the financials, they are still under discussions and hopefully they become small in the big picture of where the sport can go for its next level."
When asked if the teams were concerned that Cadillac would have a head-start on the 2026 regulations as it currently does not fall under the FIA's governance, Vowles stated that it was unlikely that the team could do much given the full scope of the aerodynamic regulations is not set in stone.
Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack added that, even if any advantage was derived from having a head-start, this would be offset by the time and investment spent on building the team from scratch.
"I think it's a monumental task, setting up a team for 2026 with also a complete different set of regulations," Krack said.
"There is also no governance around the time before 'minus 12 [months]', so to say. Whatever anyone does before that is up to them, as nobody has any means to regulate that.
"But then I think, uh, from 1 January, it's only 12 months to set all this up and make a car. I think that is a big task. So even if there was a small head-start, I think it will balance out very quickly."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Why Qatar is buying into troubled Audi F1 programme
Next article Tsunoda can change Red Bull’s mind, says RB F1 team boss
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jake Boxall-Legge
Why Ferrari failed to deliver on its hype in F1's United States GP qualifying
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Why Ferrari failed to deliver on its hype in F1's United States GP qualifying
More from
Andretti Autosport
Kyle Kirkwood seals career-best IndyCar season with Laguna Seca runner-up
IndyCar
IndyCar
Laguna Seca
Kyle Kirkwood seals career-best IndyCar season with Laguna Seca runner-up
Will Power crashes hard in second IndyCar Markham practice
IndyCar
IndyCar
Markham
Will Power crashes hard in second IndyCar Markham practice
Marcus Ericsson will remain with Andretti for 2027 IndyCar season
IndyCar
IndyCar
Portland
Marcus Ericsson will remain with Andretti for 2027 IndyCar season
Latest news
Alex Marquez moves to end MotoGP Qatar GP speculation: 'The race is confirmed'
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
6 min
Alex Marquez moves to end MotoGP Qatar GP speculation: 'The race is confirmed'
Jorge Martin declared fit to start Malaysian GP by MotoGP doctor
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
8 min
Jorge Martin declared fit to start Malaysian GP by MotoGP doctor
Cleetus McFarland set to compete full-time for 2027 ARCA championship
ARCA
ARCA ARCA 8 h
Cleetus McFarland set to compete full-time for 2027 ARCA championship
IndyCar veteran Sting Ray Robb secures United Autosports Asian Le Mans seat
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 11 h
IndyCar veteran Sting Ray Robb secures United Autosports Asian Le Mans seat
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe