Cadillac is on target to switch to its own General Motors-designed Formula 1 engine in 2029, with the design project described as “ahead of schedule”.

General Motors originally registered with the FIA to be an F1 power unit supplier from 2028, with design and development work by the GM Performance Power Units division in Concord, North Carolina, that was formed in 2025. 

Dan Towriss, CEO of the TWG Motorsports organisation that runs F1’s newest team, said that while it is following the ongoing conversations about future power unit regulations closely given there was talk of the original timeline for a rule change in 2031 being brought forward, work is ongoing on what will be called the Cadillac engine. The team will use customer Ferrari power units until then, which Towriss does not envisage being a problem in terms of Intellectual Property.

“The project’s ahead of schedule, actually,” he said when asked about the progress of the GM engine. “As of right now, we’re slated to bring the Cadillac PU online and to compete in 2029.

“There’s some developing PU regulations as well, so we’re keeping a close eye on all of that, but in terms of this current reg set, we’re on schedule to have a power unit for 2029.

“Everybody’s got to bring their own IP, so Ferrari has theirs and again, with the GM performance power unit group, that’s part of the Formula 1 team. We’re developing our own IP, we’re developing our own engines and bringing our own product to the grid in Formula 1, so those are going to be completely separate. We’re going to be a customer team of Ferrari while we’re building our PUs, and that’s going to be GM work.”

Towriss insisted that the priority is to get the Cadillac power unit onto the grid as soon as possible. He also dismissed concerns about the spending required to produce an engine that might only compete for two years before being replaced by one built to new regulations.

“We’re really following the conversation on the regs closely,” said Towriss. “It’s possible that the regulations could change before 2031, it’s possible that they don’t change before 2031.”

Regardless of the funding, I think it’s important that we see a Cadillac power unit on the grid as soon as possible. And so that’s really the main focus from my standpoint. If there are ways to speed it up, we will, but right now the focus is on 2029.”

More Bahrain running + 2026 targets

Cadillac conducted its second promotional event, which permits a maximum of 200km of running, in Bahrain today ahead of the second test at the track on Wednesday.

In terms of performance, Towriss accepts that the team will be behind aerodynamically for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. However, he also expects to be competing with other teams as the year progresses. 

“There’s still a lot of unanswered questions,” said Towriss when asked by The Race about performance expectations. “We’ll learn a lot more over the next two weeks of testing in Bahrain of just where the cars are.

“Barcelona was a lot about shakedown and just testing systems because everything we’re building is for the first time. That’s the first steering column, the first fuel system, all the pieces, so [there’s a] real focus on reliability. We’ll start to see where the performance shakes out. It’s going to be about the rate of development.

“I would expect to be behind from an aero standpoint coming out of the gate in Melbourne and as we’re getting more data, the development is going to come pretty fast on this car. We certainly expect to be competing against other teams and we’ll see where things shake out.” 

Towriss says that progress will not be measured in points as that would be an arbitrary target, and the focus will be on how far Cadillac can move up the grid. 

“Points would be an arbitrary target,” said Towriss on whether there were expectations of scoring points in 2026. “I want to look at beating teams, beating cars on track and how many cars can we pass in year one in moving up the grid.

“And secondly, it’s going to be the rate of development on this car as well. We obviously have a long-term outlook for the team and so that’s the focus that we’re going to have.

“I think focusing on points out of the gate would be both arbitrary and represent short term thinking. What we’re looking at is being successful in the sport over the long term.”

New livery explainedCadillac 2026 F1 livery

Cadillac revealed its definitive livery in an advert that ran during the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s Super Bowl. 

Towriss explained that the monochromatic colour scheme took its cues from Cadillac’s V-Series performance vehicles, rather than the more colourful palette of its regular machines. 

“We see real meaning in the colours for us,” said Towriss. “Black represents this bold attitude of the car. When you see the black side, it looks a little mean, it has some attitude.

“And then white, which is the racing colour of America, we wanted to have white on the car. It’s fresh, it’s clean, it’s optimistic, so it’s really the balance of those two. The livery is the identity of the team and so this represents us.

“Some people look to the Cadillac badge, they see the red, yellow and blue, but when you get into the high-performance Cadillac goes monochromatic in their badging. So that’s an element of the brand that we wanted to lean into for Formula 1, the pinnacle of motorsport, and that’s how we ended up with the black, white and chrome as the colours of this team.”

Towriss has also promised that the car has “a special name” that will be announced in the coming weeks.

‘Disappointed’ by Michael Bay lawsuit

Towriss says he expects the $1.5million lawsuit filed by Hollywood director Michael Bay – claiming it used his ideas in its Super Bowl advert without paying him – to be resolved amicably.

According to Towriss, who said he was disappointed by the lawsuit, Bay was spoken with as a possible director rather than a source of creative ideas.

“Our reaction is we have a lot of respect for Michael,” said Towriss. “[We’re] disappointed that he chose to do that.

“Certainly, all the creative was was done well in advance of ever speaking with him. We were wanting to talk to him about a role as director, not taking creative ideas from him.

“The group, Translation, that we worked with did an excellent job  developing all that. So we’re confident it’ll be resolved amicably.

“But, from our standpoint, last night was a huge success, and we’re very proud of the work that was done, and that’s all I can say on it.”