Formula 1 teams agreed to accept $450million to welcome Cadillac onto the grid in 2026 – the highest entry fee in the championship’s history. On paper, it looks like a windfall, but in practice, it is a down payment on permanent dilution.
Split 10 ways, the fee delivers $45m to each existing team as compensation for what comes next: an 11th entrant permanently dividing F1’s prize money. With an annual prize pool of roughly $1.27billion, the mathematics are straightforward. Within a few seasons, the one-off payment is eclipsed by lost revenue, after which the dilution continues indefinitely.
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