Cadillac F1 team: How GM’s new works outfit will join the grid in 2026

Cadillac F1 team: from “maybe” to the grid in 2026

For years, the idea of a General Motors-backed outfit on the Formula 1 grid felt like a long shot. After the FIA approved Andretti’s bid in 2023 but Formula One Management (FOM) then rejected it in early 2024, most observers assumed the door was shut. Then came a dramatic plot twist: in March 2025, the Cadillac F1 team—a GM-backed operation with TWG Motorsports—received final approval to join the championship as the 11th team from the 2026 season. The announcement confirmed the sport’s first grid expansion in more than a decade and set in motion the heavy lift of building a new team in time for the biggest technical reset F1 has seen in years. (theguardian.com)

How we got here: the approval saga in short

• Phase 1 – FIA green light (2023): The FIA ran a formal process to vet prospective entries. Andretti’s application—badged as Andretti Cadillac—passed the FIA’s sporting and technical sniff test. GM, for its part, registered with the FIA as a future Formula 1 power-unit manufacturer, targeting 2028. (ESPN.com)

• Phase 2 – FOM says no (January 2024): Despite the FIA’s approval, FOM rejected the Andretti Cadillac bid, arguing the outfit would struggle to be competitive and add value in the short term. The decision triggered plenty of debate (and a US antitrust sniff-around), but crucially, F1 hinted the situation could change once GM’s engine programme matured. (theguardian.com)

• Phase 3 – Restructuring and a fresh deal (March 2025): With TWG Motorsports stepping in and a revised plan presented, F1 announced the Cadillac Formula 1 Team had met commercial, sporting and technical criteria to join in 2026. The team will be GM-backed from day one, with its own power unit planned for later in the cycle. (news.gm.com)

In other words: same GM ambition, tighter execution plan, different ownership structure—and a deal F1 could back.

(Image Courtesy of Jim Beam)

What the approval actually means

Approval isn’t just a ceremonial handshake; it’s a commitment to a staggering to-do list under ferocious time pressure. The Cadillac F1 team must:

1. Field a car compliant with the 2026 regulations. These regs introduce radically different aerodynamics and hybrid power-unit rules designed to increase electrical contribution and run 100% sustainable fuels. It’s a clean-sheet moment, useful for a newcomer because incumbents’ advantages are partly reset. (This helps explain why 2026, not 2025, was the realistic target.)

2. Build operational capability on two continents. Early indications point to a UK race-team base—close to the sport’s supply chain—and US resources for GM’s power-unit development and corporate alignment. Reporting has placed the race-team base in Silverstone, with additional facilities stateside. (AP News)

3. Secure a competitive engine supply for the first seasons. With GM’s in-house unit not due until later in the decade, the team will use a customer Ferrari power unit initially before switching to GM hardware when it’s ready. That’s a pragmatic choice: get racing first, graduate to full works status later. (Reuters)

4. Recruit leadership and technical heft. The team has tapped experienced hands—Graeme Lowdon is cited as team principal—and has attracted big engineering signatures such as Pat Symonds (after a period of gardening leave from FOM) to bolster concept direction and architecture choices. (AP News)

Power units: Ferrari now, GM later

GM’s decision to register as an F1 power-unit manufacturer marked a pivotal moment. It transforms the Cadillac F1 team from a permanent customer into a future full works team, which historically is the cleanest path to the front. The company’s registration targets 2028 for its own power-unit programme. Between 2026 and that transition point, Cadillac will buy in Ferrari engines to compete immediately—minimising risk while GM’s tech matures. (media.gm.com)

That staged approach mirrors the sport’s successful projects of the past: race first with proven hardware, build the works project properly behind the scenes, then flip the switch once the dynos say “go”.

Why 2026 is a smart start date

If you were going to join F1, you’d circle 2026 too. Three big reasons:

• Regulation reset: New aero and power-unit rules mean everyone is redesigning the car anyway. New teams aren’t playing catch-up to a mature rule set; they’re trying to nail the same moving target as Red Bull or Mercedes.

• Sustainability alignment: With sustainable fuels and a higher electrical focus, 2026 fits GM’s broader electrification and sustainability messaging. It’s easier to sell a transatlantic racing project to the board when it plugs into corporate R&D priorities (combustion efficiency, hybrid systems, software-defined controls).

• Commercial upside in the US market: F1’s US boom is real. A Cadillac F1 team provides a direct marketing and technology showcase for GM, while giving American fans a top-tier national brand to rally behind. F1 hinted it wanted a genuinely competitive US-linked programme; the 2026 plan, with GM’s works PU coming, satisfied that narrative. (ESPN.com)

The team build: people, places, processes

Starting an F1 team is a logistics epic. You need a factory that can design and manufacture every structural component to aerospace tolerances, a supply chain that never misses a beat, and a race-team cadence that can pivot overnight between continents.

Leadership & staffing. Industry reporting has Graeme Lowdon heading up the day-to-day and Pat Symonds joining in a high-level technical capacity—both bringing decades of hard-won know-how. High-calibre hires are non-negotiable for a newcomer; they bring process, supplier relationships and a nose for which ideas actually lap quicker. (AP News)

Base of operations. The race team being anchored near Silverstone makes sense: talent density, wind-tunnel access, rapid prototyping vendors, and short drives to suppliers all compound into lap time. GM’s power-unit workstreams, meanwhile, can leverage US facilities and the wider GM engineering ecosystem—dynos, simulation, control systems and materials labs—before converging with the UK chassis operation. (AP News)

Tools & infrastructure. Expect early focus on:

• Wind-tunnel and CFD correlation: 2026 aero is less about peak downforce and more about efficient downforce and deployable energy; the tunnel-to-track correlation loop will decide if the launch spec is a midfield runner or a backmarker.

• Battery, MGU and software integration: With a bigger electrical contribution mandated, hybrid mapping and energy deployment strategy are now performance cornerstones—areas where an OEM like GM can bring serious depth.

• Lightweighting and manufacturability: New teams can be tempted by exotic designs that are a nightmare to build repeatedly. The trick is a concept that’s quick and buildable 24 times a year.

Drivers: who gets the nod?

As of autumn 2025, driver signings have not been formally announced in universally corroborated sources, though the team has signalled that selection will be merit-based and is open to American talent if the right fit emerges. That keeps options broad: seasoned campaigners for feedback and setup direction, or a rising star to grow with the project. Either way, pairing must complement car characteristics and development goals. (Reuters)

What success looks like (realistically) in year one

Let’s be sober. New teams rarely rock up and score podiums. A sensible 2026 target stack for the Cadillac F1 team might be:

1. Reliability first. Finish races, build dataset volume, and earn the right to develop.

2. Operational sharpness. Clean pit stops, slick turnaround between events, and no unforced errors.

3. Development cadence. Bring meaningful aero and mechanical updates at a sustainable rate; hit correlation targets so every upgrade works as intended.

4. Points on merit. Sniff around the lower points early doors, then try to be a consistent Q2/Q3 threat by the fly-away rounds.

By 2027–2028, the yardstick shifts: start troubling the established midfield, sharpen your execution at tracks that reward efficiency, and position the organisation for the GM works power unit handover. That’s when the ceiling lifts. (media.gm.com)

Strategic upside for GM and for F1

For GM, F1 is a global technology and brand amplifier. The learnings in combustion efficiency, thermal management, power electronics, control software and lightweight structures are on-brand for a carmaker moving through a once-in-a-century transition. Even if the on-track learning isn’t line-by-line transferrable, the organisational learnings—rapid iteration, digital twins, reliability under duress—absolutely are.

For F1, a successful Cadillac F1 team ticks three boxes:

• Competitive expansion: An 11th team done properly adds cars in the mirrors and jeopardy in strategy.

• US market depth: A big-name American OEM gives the States a rooting interest beyond drivers and venues.

• OEM diversity: With Audi joining via Sauber in 2026, GM’s arrival later as a power-unit supplier broadens the tech and commercial base of the sport. (Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website)

The risks (and how to mitigate them)

• Timeline compression: The runway to 2026 is short. Mitigation: buy-in components where smart (e.g., gearboxes), prioritise correlation, and keep the concept manufacturable.

• PU transition complexity: Switching from Ferrari to a new GM PU is a massive integration task—cooling, packaging, software, mounts. Mitigation: design the chassis family with flexibility and over-provision cooling pathways where feasible. (Reuters)

• Talent arms race: Everyone wants the same CFD lead and composite wizard. Mitigation: competitive packages, clear vision, and leveraging GM’s stability to attract and retain.

What to watch between now and the first race

1. Driver line-up: Expect clarity as the 2025–26 market shakes out and contracts expire. The team has left the door open to American drivers—but pace and feedback will decide it. (Reuters)

2. Technical leadership reveals: As more senior engineers finish their notice periods and gardening leave, you’ll see the car’s DNA take shape. (Reuters)

3. Shakedown and early testing form: Correlation will show in straight-line tests and filming days—top-speed traces, stability, deployment behaviour.

4. Supplier signals: Which transmission, suspension elements and aerodynamic test partners the team aligns with will hint at its design philosophy and update cadence.

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Final word

The Cadillac F1 team has navigated a uniquely public, often messy path to the grid—but it now has what matters: a sanctioned entry for 2026, a credible customer-engine bridge to get racing immediately, and a GM power-unit programme targeted for later in the decade. That’s the blueprint modern F1 demands: start pragmatic, scale to a full works attack when the tech is ready. If the organisation nails correlation, hiring, and race-week execution, there’s every chance Cadillac becomes more than a novelty badge. Done right, it can be a fixture.

Key sources: Official approval and timing from Formula 1 and GM (March 2025); reporting on Ferrari customer engines and leadership hires; GM’s FIA power-unit registration for 2028; and context on 2024’s Andretti rejection and subsequent restructuring that led to the current plan. (Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website)