Something big happened at the Miami Grand Prix this year. Not a pass for the lead. Not a crash. An engine fired up for the first time on American soil. A real Formula 1 engine. Built by General Motors. In North Carolina.
GM president Mark Reuss called it emotional. I believe him. The first American F1 engine running in America is a big deal.
The Cadillac F1 team engine and drivers situation is unique. No other team on the grid is doing what Cadillac is attempting. Running on Ferrari power for three years while secretly building their own unit in Charlotte. It is risky. It is expensive. It might just work.
Let me walk you through exactly where Cadillac stands. What is real. What is still coming. And whether you should buy the merch or wait.
The Two-Engine Strategy (Nobody Else Is Doing This)
Here is the timeline that matters.
2026 through 2028 – Cadillac races with Ferrari power units and gearboxes. This is not ideal. Every other top team builds its own engines. But Cadillac had no choice. They got approval too late to develop a competitive 2026-spec V6 hybrid.
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2029 target – GM's own power unit debuts. The engine is already running on test stands. Single-cylinder testing is complete. Full V-6 testing has begun.
Here is what makes this different from typical F1 entries. Most new teams buy engines forever. Cadillac is treating Ferrari as a temporary rental. The real investment is happening in Charlotte, not Maranello.
Reuss put it bluntly. "We had a full V-6 running in America for the first time". That sentence contains years of work. Building an F1 engine from scratch is not easy. Mercedes, Ferrari, and Renault took decades to perfect their hybrids. GM is trying to compress that timeline into five years.
The Charlotte Facility (Where the Magic Happens)
GM just finished construction on their power unit building in Charlotte. The facility includes extensive additive manufacturing capabilities. That means 3D printing engine parts. Faster prototyping. Quicker iterations.
The location is not random. Charlotte is NASCAR country. The technical talent pool there understands high-performance engines. Reuss confirmed GM is leveraging that talent across multiple series. Formula 1. IndyCar. NASCAR. The same engineers learn from each other.
"We built out Charlotte in NASCAR first," Reuss explained. The technical talent that is around Charlotte – whether it's aerodynamicists or chassis specialists, or control systems and simulation – we decided that we wanted to leverage that talent across several series and learn faster than anybody else.
That is smart. Most F1 teams operate in isolation. Cadillac is running a motorsport ecosystem.
The V8 Complication (Watch This Space)
Here is the wild card. F1 might change the engine rules again.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem confirmed during the Miami Grand Prix that V-8 engines are coming. He said 2031 at the latest. Possibly earlier if teams agree.
This creates a problem for Cadillac. Do they keep developing the 2026-spec V6 hybrid? Or shift resources to the V-8 early?
Reuss is not worried. "Whether it's V-6 or V-8, you know, the series will decide. We're new to the series, so we have a lot of respect for the investment that was made by the existing teams on the V-6 hybrid. But you've probably seen that people are talking about a V-8 maybe. We can do either; we know how to make a V-8".
Mario Andretti, who serves as an advisor to the team, confirmed work continues regardless. "Oh, trust me, they've been working on it. They've been working on it, no question. And when they enter officially, they're going to be ready. I have a lot of confidence in them".
The timeline for Cadillac's in-house engine is not firm. Andretti said 2028 or 2029 are possibilities. That could change based on regulation shifts.
Which Team Is Cadillac Replacing in F1? (Trick Question)
This question comes up constantly. The answer surprises people.
Cadillac is not replacing anyone. F1 is expanding to 11 teams for 2026.
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The last time F1 had 11 teams was 2016 when Haas joined. Before that, you have to go back to 2012. Expansion is rare. F1 typically resists it because prize money gets diluted.
So why did they say yes to Cadillac? Two reasons.
First, GM committed to building its own engine. That is different from a branding exercise like Aston Martin (which runs Mercedes engines) or AlphaTauri (Honda). A true manufacturer entry carries weight.
Second, the American market is too valuable to ignore. F1's growth in the US since 2018 has been explosive. Three races now. Netflix drove new fans. Cadillac as "America's team" is a commercial opportunity F1 could not pass up.
The original bid was rejected in early 2024. That bid was led by Michael Andretti. F1 said no. But GM kept working. They built a car anyway. They built an engine anyway. They hired staff anyway. By the time F1 came back to the table, Cadillac had already done the work.
The Andretti name is no longer on the entry. Michael Andretti stepped away. The project is now owned by TWG Motorsports (Mark Walter and Dan Towriss) and General Motors. Mario Andretti remains as an ambassador. His name lives on in the first car designation: MAC-26, short for Mario Andretti Cadillac.
The anti-dilution fee? $200 million. That is the price of admission .
Cadillac F1 Team Drivers (The Full Lineup)
Let me break down who is driving for Cadillac in 2026.
Race Drivers:
Valtteri Bottas – The Finn returns to the grid after a year as Mercedes reserve. Ten race wins. Sixty-seven podiums. A known quantity. He told reporters, "I am excited to start as a driver for the Cadillac Formula 1 team, finally. This is a proud moment in my career as it marks the beginning of a new chapter on the grid with a team that is starting its journey in this sport".
Sergio "Checo" Perez – The Mexican veteran won five races with Red Bull. His popularity in Latin America is massive. General Motors sells many cars in Mexico. That is not a coincidence. Perez brings experience and commercial value.
Reserve Driver:
Zhou Guanyu – China's first and only F1 driver. He raced alongside Bottas at Alfa Romeo and Kick Sauber. His Ferrari experience is valuable given Cadillac's current engine supply deal.
Test Driver:
Colton Herta – The American IndyCar star. Nine wins. Sixteen poles. Youngest driver to win an IndyCar race. He will compete in Formula 2 in 2026 to earn F1 superlicense points. If successful, he could become the first American F1 driver since Logan Sargeant .
What about the team principal? Graeme Lowdon. He ran the Marussia F1 team and has deep motorsport experience. He told the F1 website, "In terms of being ready to race, everything is on schedule. There's an awful lot of work that has gone on in the background".
Cadillac F1 Tommy Hilfiger (The Fashion Connection)
F1 is not just about lap times anymore. It is about culture.
Tommy Hilfiger signed on as the Cadillac F1 Team's official apparel partner. The collection launched ahead of the 2026 season. Replica team kits. Driver caps. Polos. The usual stuff.
But here is the interesting part. Tommy Hilfiger created city-specific capsule collections. Miami launched first. Austin and Las Vegas will follow.
Why does this matter? Because F1 merchandise is a massive revenue stream. Ferrari makes more money from licensing than most teams make from prize money. Cadillac is trying to build that same connection with American fans. The Tommy Hilfiger partnership is not random. It is strategic.
Lea Rytz Goldman, Global Brand President at Tommy Hilfiger, put it directly. "Partnering with the Cadillac Formula 1 Team allows us to create prep classics that are confident, collectible and made for fans".
If you want Cadillac F1 Team merch, it is available on cadillacf1team.com and tommy.com. The driver caps are the best sellers. The Miami capsule includes pink accents that actually look good. But wait for a race weekend. They usually run promotions.
What to Expect in 2026 (Realistic Predictions)
I have watched enough F1 launches to know how this goes. New teams struggle.
Cadillac will be slow in 2026. Probably the slowest car on the grid. That is not failure. That is the cost of entry. Haas took three years to become competitive. Toyota spent a billion dollars and never won a race.
The Ferrari engine is good. Not great. Andretti told GPblog it is "not as powerful as the Mercedes power unit". That puts Cadillac at a disadvantage before they even turn a wheel.
But here is the difference between Cadillac and previous new entries. They have a real manufacturer behind them. GM is not going to pull funding after two bad seasons. They built an engine facility. They hired hundreds of engineers. They are playing the long game.
Dan Towriss, whose TWG Motorsports owns the team alongside GM, summed up the fight. "We ran into a lot of obstacles, a lot of voices telling us not just 'no,' but 'never.' Formula 1 is innovation on the biggest stage possible, and the U.S. didn't really have a seat at that table. To now come in with General Motors and the Cadillac brand, that's something we're tremendously proud of.
The Final Thoughts
Cadillac is doing something no new F1 team has tried. Racing on customer engines while simultaneously building a works power unit from scratch. The V-6 hybrid is already running on test stands in North Carolina. The 2029 target is aggressive but possible.
The driver lineup is solid. Bottas and Perez will score points when the car allows. Herta is the future if he earns his superlicense. Zhou provides depth and Ferrari connections.
The Tommy Hilfiger partnership is smart. F1 merch sells. The city-specific capsules create collectibility.
If you are a fan: Buy the cap. Watch the first season with low expectations. The real story starts in 2029 when the GM engine fires up for real.
If you are an investor: Watch the Charlotte facility. Watch the V-8 regulation debate. Those two factors determine whether Cadillac succeeds or becomes another manufacturer who tried and left.
If you just want to know which team Cadillac is replacing: None. F1 is expanding to 11 teams. First time since 2016.
The American engine is coming. Not yet. But soon. And when it arrives, Cadillac will finally be a real constructor. Not a Ferrari customer with a different badge. A real one.
That is the plan anyway. F1 has a way of breaking plans. We will see.
