A NEW and EXCITING ERA

By Bob Sorokanich, Senior Editor. GM News

TO BE THE best, you have to compete with the best. That’s the philosophy that is guiding GM Motorsports to race and win in series around the world. And it’s why they are proud to launch the Cadillac Formula 1 Team for the 2026 Formula One World Championship.

*The first rendering of the Cadillac Grand Prix car, backed by TWG Motorsports and General Motors. The official racing livery will be previewed during the Super Bowl in February*

Racing is the ultimate challenge. Victory on the racetrack demands nothing less than total commitment — from the engineers and designers who create the race car, to the experts who build it, to the team that prepares it, and the driver who pilots it across the finish line. In racing, there are no do-overs, no second chances, and no participation trophies. It’s an unforgiving world — but when you win, you know for certain that you’ve earned it.

General Motors has been a global force in motorsports since the early days of the car industry. Today, you can see GM vehicles racing almost everywhere that automobiles line up in competition. Whether it’s the split-second thrill of NHRA drag racing or the all-day, all-night intensity of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the pulse- pounding precision of IndyCar, the muscle-car bravado of NASCAR, or the flat-out toughness of Best in the Desert Off-Road Trucks, GM is racing and winning around the globe.

Around the world, no other racing series has the impact of Formula 1. Fans across the globe flock to F1 for its exhilarating competition, its cutting-edge technology, and its superstar driving talent. Racing at the world’s most legendary circuits in more than 20 countries, F1 has truly become a global phenomenon.

The only thing missing has been a team backed by an American automaker. That changes in the 2026 F1 season.

The launch of the Cadillac Formula 1 Team marks the beginning of a new and exciting era. Just like Formula 1, Cadillac has reached new levels of success and achievement in the 21st century. The growth of the V-Series line of high-performance Cadillac vehicles, the success of Cadillac’s prototype sports-car racing program, and the debut of the hand-built, ultra-luxury Cadillac CELESTIQ all prove it: Cadillac is once again the Standard of the World.

In motorsports, there’s no time to rest on your laurels. So, Cadillac is celebrating this era of success by taking on the biggest challenge in the racing world: Formula 1.

“As the pinnacle of motorsports, F1 demands boundary-pushing innovation and excellence,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “It’s an honor for General Motors and Cadillac to join the world’s premier racing series, and we’re committed to competing with passion and integrity to elevate the sport for race fans around the world. This is global stage for us to demonstrate GM’s engineering expertise and technology leadership at an entirely new level.”

When the Cadillac Formula 1 Team takes to the grid at the start of the 2026 racing season, it will be the culmination of years of effort. Backed by TWG Motorsports and General Motors, the Cadillac Formula 1 Team will expand the FIA Formula One Championship to 11 teams in the 2026 racing season.

“The Cadillac Formula 1 Team’s presence in the paddock will inspire future competitors and fans,” said FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. “Their entry strengthens our mission to push motorsport’s boundaries at the highest level.”

The integration between TWG Motorsports and GM creates a distinctly American team with unique attributes. TWG Group’s resources and commitment to excellence, cutting edge technology and deep collaboration across motorsport disciplines combined with GM’s performance DNA, engineering excellence and proven success in motorsports provides a strong foundation for the team.

“We have worked hand in hand with GM to lay a robust foundation for an extraordinary Formula 1 entry,” said Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports. “With 2026 in our sights, we’re accelerating our efforts — expanding our facilities, refining cutting-edge technologies, and continuing to assemble top-tier talent.”

Since the bid to join Formula 1 was announced in January 2023, TWG Motorsports has assembled an experienced team of more than 300 people working on aerodynamics, chassis and component development, software and vehicle dynamics simulation. Development work to join the grid in 2026 has continued at pace with operational wind-tunnel models, parts production and performance testing well underway. The team has operations in Indianapolis, Indiana; Charlotte, North Carolina; Warren, Michigan; and Silverstone, England.

As the first new team to join F1 since 2016, the people behind the Cadillac Formula 1 Team had to hit the ground running. Long time motorsports and Formula 1 team executive Graeme Lowdon was named Team Principal of the Cadillac Formula 1 Team, and industry veteran Russ O’Blenes was named CEO of TWG GM Performance Power Units LLC, a new company that will put Cadillac on the future path to being a “full works” team by the end of the decade — building Formula 1 chassis and power units.

*Graeme Lowdon, Cadillac F1 Team Principal with Bottas and Pérez during a cockpit fitting in the new car*

“I couldn’t be more proud of the effort put in by the entire Cadillac Formula 1 Team,” said Lowdon. “We can’t wait to go racing and give fans a new team to cheer for.”

“Ongoing preparation and development of our power unit continues, and we’ve been working hard to hire some top tier talent,” said O’Blenes. “As we continue to add more experienced engineering personnel, we look forward to an exciting future.”

The team signed two experienced drivers — 10-time Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas and six-time Grand Prix winner Sergio “Checo” Pérez — to lead the team into its debut season. With more than 500 combined Grand Prix starts, over 100 podiums, and deep expertise in F1 car development, Bottas and Pérez bring an unmatched blend of experience, leadership and technical acumen.

*Cadillac’s drivers for the 2026 F1 season,*
*Ten-time Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas(Left) and six-time Grand Prix winner Sergio “Checo” Pérez* (Right)

“From the moment I began speaking with the Cadillac Formula 1 Team, I felt something different — something ambitious but also grounded,” said Bottas. “This isn’t just a racing project; it’s a long-term vision. It’s not every day that you get a chance to be part of something being built from the ground up and helping shape it into something that truly belongs on the F1 grid.”

“Joining the Cadillac Formula 1 Team is an incredibly exciting new chapter in my career,” said Pérez. “From our first conversations, I could sense the passion and determination behind this project. It’s an honor to be part of building a team that can develop together so that, in time, we will fight at the very front. Cadillac is a legendary name in American motorsport, and to help bring such a fantastic company to Formula 1 is a huge responsibility, one I’m confident of taking on.”

Nine-time NTT Indycar Series race winner Colton Herta was named Cadillac Formula 1 Team Test Driver, and 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner Simon Pagenaud was brought on as a simulator development driver using the GM facility in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“It’s not just about being state-of-the-art in terms of the tools, the processes, and the methods we use,” said Dr. Mandar Hazare, General Motors’ Performance Engineering lead on the Cadillac F1 Team. “It’s also about creating a high-performance culture within each and every individual that is on the team. Building that culture, which can sustain itself in the long term, will be one of our key differentiators.”

Simulation testing has been a huge part of the Cadillac Formula 1 Team’s preparations. At the state-of-the-art GM Motorsports facility in Charlotte, the Cadillac Formula 1 team collaborates with GM Motorsports to conduct in-depth virtual testing using GM’s Driver-in-Loop simulator, where the driver is strapped into an exact Formula 1 car cockpit that moves on a hydraulic armature to simulate g-forces for a fully immersive experience.

This simulator testing is a crucial tool for both vehicle development and team practice. In June 2025, the Cadillac Formula 1 Team conducted a real-time simulated race that ran simultaneously with the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix. Pagenaud drove a virtual model of an F1 car for the full duration of the race, giving the team an opportunity to rehearse the kind of scenarios that pop up during an actual race.

For a peek at this virtual race, and to witness all the preparations going into the Cadillac F1 Team’s 2026 debut, check out “What Makes Fast: Cadillac’s Road to F1,” GM’s 10-episode YouTube documentary showcasing all the behind-the-scenes work involved in launching a brand-new F1 team.

All this effort will culminate in the Cadillac Formula 1 Team’s debut on the grid at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix on March 8. That’s when the real work begins: Competing in the highest echelon of racing on the world stage.

“Our journey has been long,” said Reuss, “but from the very beginning, it has been about ambition, audacity, and now, acceleration.”