Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss 'disappointed' after team hit with multimillion-dollar lawsuit

15:33, 09 Feb

Updated: 15:37, 09 Feb

byOlly Darcy

Cadillac F1 Team CEO Dan Towriss says he is "disappointed" that his team has been threatened with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, but is "confident an amicable" resolution will be found.

"I think it's disappointing that he chose to do that."

- Dan Towriss

American film director Michael Bay put forward the lawsuit against the American team over their Super Bowl commercial that saw them unveil the livery for their 2026 machine.

A 19-page breach-of-contract and fraud lawsuit has come from Bay, claiming that Cadillac "apparently stolen Bay’s ideas and work for the commercial without paying for them,” with concepts he developed allegedly appearing in the final advert.

As a result, Bay is searching for at least $1.5 million in damages, with the lawsuit adding: "They planned all along to rip him off. They wanted a ‘Michael Bay’ commercial, in other words, at a bargain-basement price.”

Cadillac revealed its asymetric black-and-white livery for the 2026 season - Photo: Cadillac F1 Team

In response to the lawsuit, Towriss started by saying, "Our reaction is we have a lot of respect for Michael," telling GPblog and other media.

"I think it's disappointing that he chose to do that. Certainly, all of the creative was done well in advance of ever speaking with him.

"We were wanting to talk to him about a role as director, not taking creative ideas from him. I think the group translation that we worked with did an excellent job developing all that.

"We're confident it'll be resolved amicably. From our standpoint, last night was a huge success, and we're very proud of the work that was done. That's all I can say on it."

Cadillac go all out with livery reveal

Marking their debut in the pinnacle of motorsport, Cadillac revealed its challenger to the world with a livery reveal in the form of a Super Bowl commercial.

The American team are yet to name their machine, but a asymmatric black-and-white colour scheme was unveiled, marking another major milestone.

The reveal garnered plenty of praise from the world of motorsport, becoming the ninth team to do so just three days before the second batch of winter testing gets underway in Bahrain on February 11-13.