F1 announces plans for 11th team ahead of the upcoming Qatar Grand Prix

The GIST: This weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix is the second-to-last race on the cal, but the biggest news out of the paddock is the arrival of a brand new team preparing to join the grid in 2026. Lights out, and away we go.

Cadillac F1 to start racing in 2026: As discussed on yesterday’s episode of The GIST of It, F1 will add a team to the track for the first time since 2016 after a bid from American automaker General Motors was approved on Monday. And while making it to the checkered flag is no easy feat, the fact that the 11th team is American underscores the sport’s recent popularity boom in the U.S.

• Plus, adding an 11th team expands the grid from 20 drivers to 22, meaning those extra seats provide additional opportunities for fan faves, like Daniel Ricciardo for example, to return to the grid in 2026. Watch this space.

World Constructors’ Championship (WCC) on the line in penultimate race: As for the ongoing action, Ferrari, McLaren, and Red Bull are still vying for the F1 team title with not one but two opportunities to snag points in Qatar: Saturday’s 9 a.m. ET sprint race (19 laps) and Sunday’s 11 a.m. ET main event (57 laps).

• This weekend also marks the return of F1’s all-women series, F1 Academy, where British phenom and friend of The GIST, Abbi Pulling, is racing to become the second-ever F1 Academy champ. Rev those engines.