As Detroit’s Cadillac and Ford brands prepare for their debut at Formula One’s Melbourne Grand Prix in Australia this weekend, their theme song might be Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.”
The Motown operations have gained a lot of R-E-S-P-E-C-T after a chaotic year of preparation and two closely watched preseason test sessions in Barcelona and Bahrain. It’s Cadillac’s maiden voyage into the globe’s premier motorsports series, while Ford’s partnership with the Oracle Red Bull team is Ford Racing’s first F1 powertrain partnership since 2004.
Expected to be a backmarker out of the gate, Cadillac nonetheless has won praise for methodically piecing together a world-class effort just one year after its approval by F1 Management as the 11th team on the grid. Ford, on the other hand, has brought its manufacturing know-how to help Red Bull and its elite Dutch driver, Max Verstappen, fight for a championship. Not to be overlooked, the third U.S.-vested team, North Carolina-based Haas, (with its partner Toyota, the best-selling auto brand in the United States), looks to be a podium points-contender this year.
Their entries come at a time when F1 has changed everything: new rules for engines, lighter chassis, aerodynamics, sustainable fuel. Even the series’ TV access has changed with Apple TV securing exclusive U.S. streaming rights.
The reset is a key reason the Motown pair were drawn to F1.
A showcase for manufacturer tech, the motorsport’s emphasis on a 50-50 hybrid power unit (F1-speak for powertrain) has provided an opportunity for General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. to develop new drivetrains on par with the global performance brands, including Ferrari, Mercedes and Audi.
“(It’s) the biggest change in over 10 years,” Verstappen told Apple TV in a pre-race interview. “The car is completely new. The engine is completely different to what it used to be. It’s more like 50% engine, 50% battery. That makes it very complicated since the two have to work together. The aerodynamic rules are very different to what they used to be, so for the engineers it’s a big challenge to make everything work.”
Verstappen is Oracle Red Bull Racing’s secret weapon. The four-time champion is the third-winningest driver in F1 history with 71 wins at the tender age of 28 — a generational talent widely regarded as the best driver on the grid. By comparison, most-winningest Lewis Hamilton was 33 before he won his 71st race and No. 2 Michael Schumacher was 35 before his 71st.
But Verstappen’s team, a perennial frontrunner during his recent reign (he won the championship from 2021-24, narrowly missing out in 2025), suddenly became a question mark when Honda pulled out of its engine partnership and left Red Bull to develop its own power unit for the first time.
Ford has stepped up as a crucial partner in that development. Originally assumed to be a battery partner, Ford — a global manufacturing colossus compared to the small Red Bull race team in Milton Keynes, England — has reportedly provided crucial expertise as Red Bull embarked on its breakneck development program.
Advanced engineering, such as 3D printing, for example, has been important. Ford powertrain chief engineer Christian Hertrich said the technology has reduced the printing of prototype parts from Red Bull’s previous 16 days down to five. It’s one area among many where Ford Racing has made its resources available.
“From the very first discussion… it was, I’d say, a modest list of, ‘OK, these are the areas where we think we can contribute, where we think we want to learn,’ and that was a starting point,” Ford Racing Global Director Mark Rushbrook told Racer.com. “And then I went and had a discussion with (Red Bull Powertrains technical director) Ben Hodgkinson, and that list got a little bit longer.
“And through time it got longer, but the way we looked at it is we’re committed partners in the sense that they want to win, we want to win, what does it take to win? It’s been a great partnership.”
Verstappen hailed the dynamic duo. “With Ford coming back, it’s a very exciting partnership,” he told Apple TV. “They have a lot of history in the sport — Formula One as well — so everyone is super-excited to get started.”
Crucial to Cadillac F1’s approval as a new team was its multibillion-dollar commitment to developing a new powertrain by 2029. In the meantime, it is contracting with Ferrari to use the Italian maker’s power unit.
Its integration is one piece in forming a new race team from the ground up — a formidable undertaking in a sport that spans 24 races in 21 countries on five continents.
It’s financial and public exposure that has put the Cadillac brand on the line.
“Amid the mystery, uncertainty, and politics of Formula 1 pre-season testing, there was one unanimous conclusion in the paddock: Cadillac has done an outstanding job,” wrote Racer.com’s Edd Straw.
Credit unrelenting investment since 2023 when Cadillac first applied to join the grid, weathering numerous storms and initial rejection of Cadillac and its partner, Andretti Motorsports (replaced by TWG Motorsports).
By the end of February testing in Bahrain, Cadillac and its experienced duo of F1 drivers — Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas — has logged nearly 300 laps, proving their reliability even as they were the second-slowest team, well in arrears of top performers Ferrari and Mercedes.
“We firmly believe we’ve got a platform that we can really start moving forward on, that’s probably the most you could ever ask from a new team, unless it’s a complete miracle,” team principal Graeme Lowdon told media. “We’re dealing with the same laws of physics as every other team, we’re in a cost-capped environment, we’ve had to expend a huge amount of effort and energy as a team just to start as a new team. To absorb all of that and have a platform that I feel we can build on, that’s a really positive start.”
In a short time, Lowdon & Co. have built a 600-strong employee team based in Silverstone, England, and Indianapolis. Cadillac F1’s Super Bowl ad compared its ambitions to the U.S. moonshot, and climbing the F1 charts will require sustained investment like the space program.
Owned by U.S. industrialist Carl Haas, the TGR Haas F1 team was the last team to join the F1 grid, in 2016, before Cadillac F1.
This year, it has gained big-foot backing from Toyota and its Toyota Gazoo Racing arm (thus the TGR acronym) — the Japanese behemoth’s international racing arm, similar to Ford Racing. Similar, too, is Haas’ sourcing of a Ferrari power unit like Cadillac F1. The team impressed in pre-season testing, logging a healthy 165 laps at Bahrain’s final test day.
“The real challenge starts now ahead of the first race in Melbourne, but as a team, especially being the smallest team, I think we can be proud of ourselves and how we got here,” said Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu. After the Big Four of Oracle Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren, Haas is expected to be the best of the rest, along with Racing Red Bulls (the junior, Ford-backed Red Bull team) and Renault-backed Alpine.
Like its American newcomers, F1 will be under the microscope in 2026. The European-based series’ embrace of electrification has paralleled the EU’s politicized car market, where stiff government EV mandates (Cadillac is using F1 to sell an EV-only lineup in Europe) have led to big financial and employment losses at European automakers.
As with production vehicles, the hybrid F1 racers come with high costs and technical challenges. With 50-50 battery power, drivers have found themselves managing momentum on track to preserve battery power rather than driving all out.
“Not a lot of fun, to be honest,” Verstappen told media when asked about what the new car was like to drive. “I would say the right word is management. As a driver, the feeling is not very Formula 1-like. It feels a bit more like Formula E on steroids.”
Verstappen’s comparison (echoed by others) to the dreaded Formula E — the international all-electric series that has been a fan dud — sent a shiver through F1.
Motorsports watchers are concerned about reliability, quality of racing, and teams like Aston Martin that have struggled with their new Honda power unit. With so many questions, the Detroit rookies have been a feel-good story.
“All in all, we can be very happy with the progress that we’ve made,” Cadillac F1’s Lowdon said. “It’s a massive achievement to get to where we are now.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Cadillac F1, Ford earn R-E-S-P-E-C-T ahead of Australia debut
Reporting by Henry Payne, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
