Although both of the Cadillac F1 team’s current race cars utilize Ferrari power units, General Motors will become a full-fledged team by the end of the decade. That means GM will supply its own race cars with off-the-shelf kits, and with three years left until that happens, things are going according to plan.
Dan Towriss, CEO of the Cadillac F1 team, says GM’s new power unit will debut for the 2029 racing season. And, right now, the project is actually ahead of schedule.
“Right now, we are scheduled to bring Cadillac PU online for competition in 2029,” Towriss said.
However, Towriss admitted that it was not easy for the Cadillac F1 team to split in two directions. But put together, the GM power unit would be very different from the Ferrari power the team currently runs.
“In terms of intellectual property [intellectual property]yeah, everyone has to bring their own IP, right,” he said. “So Ferrari has their IP, and with the GM Performance Power Units group, which is part of the Formula 1 team, we developed our own IP. We develop our own engines and bring our own work product to the grid in Formula 1.”
Currently, the Cadillac F1 team is focused on building power units that comply with the current regulations, which officially come into effect at the start of the 2026 F1 team. As of this writing, it is still unclear whether new regulations will be implemented after the current regulations expire in 2030, or whether the FIA will continue to apply the 2026 guidelines.
“Like I said, we’re really following the conversation in the regulations closely,” Towriss said. “It’s possible that the regulations could change before 2031. There’s a possibility that the regulations won’t change before 2031…Regardless of the funding, I think it’s important that we see Cadillac power units get on the grid as soon as possible. That’s really the main focus, from my perspective.”
With three races remaining, the Cadillac F1 team has been lurking near the back of the field. It’s encouraging that they’ve only recorded one DNF in 2026 so far, but there are still plenty of races left this year. Which begs the question – when will the Cadillac F1 team win for the first time, and will they do it with Ferrari or GM power?
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