LAS VEGAS — Formula 1 is expected to approve grid expansion for an 11th team originally started by Michael Andretti as early as next week.

The team will be called Cadillac F1 and powered by Ferrari engines when it enters the sport in 2026. General Motors is expected to complete its own Cadillac power unit ahead of the 2028 season.

The delayed decision to expand the grid for the Andretti-started entry is a reversal for F1, which initially denied the application despite approval from F1 sanctioning body FIA. The existing 10 teams, who have no voice in the matter, have largely opposed expansion because of the dilution in prize money and the billions of dollars they’ve already invested in the series.

The teams also contended that Andretti should buy a team rather than expanding the grid. No teams have marketed themselves for sale, however, and Andretti in 2020 already tried to close a deal that would have taken over the existing Sauber team.

The entire situation began to change when Andretti’s father, 1978 F1 champion Mario Andretti, went to Washington, D.C., earlier this year to lobby for support for the Andretti Global effort. That launched a Department of Justice investigation into why Colorado-based Liberty Media, the commercial rights holder of F1, was denying the American team an entry.

The DOJ situation wasn’t helped when Luca de Meo, the CEO of Renault, said in October he refused to sell the Alpine F1 team because it was such a prized company possession and he referred to F1 as a “closed club” that made it a very lucrative seller market.

The DOJ as part of the discovery phase of its investigation is also believed to have a copy of a WhatsApp group chat among team principals that could have damning statements against the Andretti bid.

The Las Vegas race marks the third and final stop this year for F1 in the United States, where the series has exploded in popularity over the last five years. The three U.S. stops — Miami; Austin, Texas; and Las Vegas — are more than any other country.

Another significant change to the acceptance was Michael Andretti’s decision in September to take a smaller role within his namesake organization and turn over controlling interest to new team majority owners Dan Towriss and Mark Walter, the controlling owner of the Dodgers.

Although the Andretti Global name is expected to remain in IndyCar, it will be dropped from the F1 team as Cadillac plans to make it a proper manufacturer-driven organization. F1 had always said from its initial denial of the Andretti application it would revisit the expansion request when General Motors was prepared to take on a larger role.

Mario Andretti will have an ambassador role with the F1 team, but Michael Andretti will be largely sidelined. Michael Andretti ran 13 F1 races in an abbreviated 1993 season and many believe F1’s snub of his application was over lingering resentment toward the former driver.