General Motors’ engine department for Cadillac F1 is born

General Motors and TWG Motorsports have created a new company which will be responsible for designing, manufacturing and developing the power units used by the American team in Formula 1 in the years to come. It is from this moment, by 2028 at the earliest, that the eleventh structure entered in the championship will become a real factory team.

Cadillac obtained F1’s agreement at the end of last year to commit to the 2026 season, on condition that General Motors invests more heavily. The American manufacturer has thus committed to producing its own engines, while starting in the discipline with a customer block. It is for this reason that an agreement with Ferrari was formalized last month.

The company entirely dedicated to future power units has been named GM Performance Power Units LLC and Russ O’Blenes will be its CEO. According to Cadillac, it places the stable “on track to become a factory team by the end of the decade”. Russ O’Blenes was previously director of the General Motors branch dedicated to propulsion and performance, notably in charge of the engine program for Cadillac and Corvette in endurance.

“We are delighted to welcome Russ to this key position”underlines Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports, majority shareholder of the future Cadillac F1 Team. “His expertise and leadership will be instrumental in laying the foundations for the Cadillac adventure in Formula 1. Along with team principal Graeme Lowdon, they will lead the team to establish new standards of performance and innovation in the discipline. “

The new GM PPU entity will be based in a new factory which will open in 2026 in the United States, in Charlotte, very close to the General Motors technical center. President of General Motors, Mark Reuss, insists on the manufacturer’s desire to “demonstrate GM’s engineering and technology capabilities on the international stage”.

Although the objective of using its own engine from 2028 has been announced from the start, this deadline could be postponed by one to two years if the project requires it, as the American team itself suggests, stating that “Cadillac will use Ferrari power units until GM engines are approved for competition”.