The brand may be using Ferrari powertrains through 2029, but it's hard at work behind closed doors on what comes next. General Motors's foray into the world of Formula 1 is more than a mere marketing exercise for Cadillac. The automaker has the intention to compete as a genuine works team and powertrain supplier, with plans to bring their own bespoke unit by 2029. And according to GM president Mark Reuss, the team is right on schedule, having already run a test version of its upcoming turbocharged V-6 at the brand’s new technical center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
By the time GM was given the green light to join Formula 1, it was already too late for the brand to test and develop their own power unit for its inaugural 2026 season. Cadillac instead inked a powertrain contract with Ferrari, which will supply the American team through 2028. Not only did this allow Cadillac to hit the track running, but it also freed up the powertrain team to work on the brand’s own future unit. As such, the brand’s engine experts down in Charlotte have wasted no time getting things rolling.
View Price on Amazon"Our power unit is well underway, and we're seeing the first things come out of there, and be tested from a single cylinder and then full engine, actually,” Reuss told the media at the Miami Grand Prix. "We had a full V-6 running in America for the first time, which was pretty emotional. The first Formula 1 American engine running on our soil. Pretty cool, you know?”
Reuss further noted that GM has just wrapped construction of the brand’s power unit building in Charlotte, complete with extensive additive manufacturing capabilities. This setup will play a major role in allowing the brand to continue improving its designs, bolstered in large part by the facilities’ expertise across other motorsports.
Cadillac plans to release its own power unit for the 2029 season. Of course, it's also now expected that the series will make the move back to V-8 engines in 2030 or 2031, given the recent comments from leadership. "I'm positive, [the teams] want it to happen,” FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said during the Miami Grand Prix, according to a Reuters report. “But let's say the manufacturers don't approve it (for 2030). The next year, it will happen. In 2031 it's done anyway. It will be done. V-8 is coming."
That statement means that Cadillac needs to effectively be working on two powertrains at once in North Carolina, but that doesn’t seem to be a concern for Reuss. "Whether it's V-6 or V-8, you know, the series will decide," the president said. "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 that we have on the circuit now. But you've probably seen that, you know, people are talking about a V-8 maybe. We can do either; we know how to make a V-8.”
Source: roadandtrack.com
