American manufacturers Ford and Cadillac are set to bring their long-standing rivalry to Formula 1, as Ford has responded to what it considers to be “patently absurd” claims from the Cadillac camp over the nature of its involvement at Red Bull.
Having last raced in F1 under the Jaguar brand in 2004, Ford is partnering with Red Bull for the new powertrain era of 2026, bringing personnel and technology to the Milton Keynes team as it launches its first ever in-house powertrains.
Advertisement
Ford’s original intention was to help Red Bull Powertrains with the electrification aspect of the new power units, which will move toward a near 50-50 split between internal combustion power and electric power, leveraging the Dearborn, Michigan-based OEM’s battery technology. However, throughout the process, Blue Oval’s contribution expanded to include participation in elements of the V6 combustion engine and manufacturing of parts in the United States.
Read also:
Why Ford is contributing more to Red Bull’s F1 engines than initially expected
Advertisement
Ford: Red Bull’s F1 engine program ‘on track’ ahead of first track test
Meanwhile, Cadillac joins as the 11th expansion team, starting from scratch with bases in Silverstone in the United Kingdom and several locations in the United States, including a headquarters under construction in Fishers, Indiana. Cadillac will initially operate Ferrari customer engines while working on its own powertrains for 2029.
The two brands have a long-standing rivalry on and off the track, including competing for decades in NASCAR racing. Before winter testing begins, both sides have already started exchanging barbs as they are set to do battle on the F1 battlefield.
Advertisement
Speaking to reporters at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss downplayed Ford’s actual involvement, calling it “a marketing deal with very minimal impact, where GM is a shareholder. They’re deep-rooted from an engineering standpoint, and they’ve been involved from day one. These two deals couldn’t be more different.”
Cadillac’s F1 efforts are led by CEO Dan Towriss and team principal Graeme Lowdon
Cadillac’s F1 efforts are led by CEO Dan Towriss and team principal Graeme Lowdon
Speaking to The Athletic, Ford executive chairman Bill Ford mocked Towriss’ comments, calling them “patently absurd” and saying he “was stunned” when he first heard them.
Advertisement
“I would say that actually the opposite is true,” Ford said. “They use a Ferrari engine. They don’t use a Cadillac engine. I don’t know if they have any GM employees on the race team. If anything looks like a marketing effort, it is.”
Bill Ford’s son Will, who is the general manager of Ford Performance, also dismissed the Cadillac comparison. “Nothing could be further from the truth, in that our partnership with Red Bull is a marketing effort,” he told The Athletic.
“We could have spent a lot of money to put our logo on a car, or to put our name alongside a team. But we made a very deliberate decision to form Red Bull Ford Powertrains as a true technical partnership, and to really complement the bold effort that Red Bull decided to make by developing its own powertrain.”
Advertisement
Ford prepares to unveil its 2026 partnership with Red Bull Racing and sister team Racing bulls at the season launch in Detroit on Thursday evening, while Cadillac will reveal its 2026 livery during a Superbowl halftime commercial on February 8. The Graeme Lowdon-led team, which is part-owned by parent company General Motors, recently revealed its unique, stealthy livery for the F1 shakedown in Barcelona at the end of this month.
Read also:
Cadillac debuts F1’s first stealth livery for Barcelona testing
Why Cadillac’s Growing F1 Team Wants to Maintain Its Lean Start-Up Culture
To read more articles on Motorsport.com visit our website.
