Higher Cadillac payment still not enough – Wolff

Jan.16 (GMM) Toto Wolff has hit out at the size of the new team fee payable by Cadillac F1 ahead of its 2026 Formula 1 debut.

Although F1 owner Liberty Media eventually, and reluctantly, agreed to let the eleventh team enter the sport, the existing teams continue to object on the basis that their share of the commercial revenue will be diluted.

Originally, the compensation fee designed to mitigate the losses was $200 million, but teams have been lobbying for it to be much higher – reportedly as much as $600 million.

That is despite the fact that Mercedes boss and co-owner Wolff admits Mercedes’ F1 project is now profitable.

“Thanks to the budget cap and the Formula 1 boom, teams are earning money instead of burning it like they used to,” he told Auto Motor und Sport.

“We are making a real profit. The profitability ratio is 30 to 35 percent before taxes,” the Austrian added. “That even compensates for the costs of the engine.

“The old cliche that Formula 1 just burns money is history. The bottom line is that Formula 1 has never been as healthy as it is today.”

However, he admits he still has concerns about Cadillac’s F1 entry.

“If they are coming now with a factory effort, investing a corresponding marketing budget in Formula 1, then that is an added value for Formula 1,” said Wolff.

He also admits that Cadillac may eventually add to F1’s global image, but still claims the amount of the proposed compensation payment is not enough.

“We lose initially,” said Wolff. “We don’t know what Cadillac will invest in Formula 1. The compensation payment, which is currently said to be $450 million, is too low.

“It doesn’t compensate for the direct loss of income. Only time will tell what the sport will gain from an eleventh participant. We just don’t know.

“No one has spoken to me about what Cadillac is planning exactly.”