Cadillac and Ford exchange words ahead of 2026 Formula 1 debut

11:01, 15 Jan

Updated: 11:39, 15 Jan

byOlly Darcy

Ford and Cadillac chiefs have exchanged verbal blows as a mouth-watering rivalry between the two American giants looks set to burst into life.

"Those two deals couldn’t be more different.”

- Dan Towriss - CEO of Cadillac F1 Team

General Motors entered Formula 1 for the 2026 season with its luxury Cadillac brand, adding an 11th team to the grid as it joined Haas as the second American team in the pinnacle of motorsport.

GM will also be joined by another massive American manufacturer, as Ford returns to F1 for the first time since 2004. They will partner up with Red Bull Racing and develop power units for the Austrian team for the 2026 season.

But even before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, pre-season testing, or any car launches, a war of words has ignited.

Cadillac F1 Team CEO Dsn Towriss with Valterri Bottas, who will drive with Sergio Perez at the American team in 2026 - Photo: Race Pictures

Cadillac and Ford take jabs at each other

Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss was the first to land a verbal blow on Ford, stating that a comparison between GM and Ford in the F1 world is "not even close".

“One is a marketing deal with very minimal impact, while GM is an equity owner [in the Cadillac team]. They’re deeply embedded from an engineering standpoint, and they were involved from day one. Those two deals couldn’t be more different.”

Those comments brought a response from Bill Ford, the executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, landing a jab of his own by stating that he "was stunned" at the "patently absurd" comments, which even made him "start to laugh" while in conversation with The Athletic.

“I would say, actually, the reverse is true. They’re running a Ferrari engine. They’re not running a Cadillac engine. I don’t know if they have any GM employees on the race team.”

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Will Ford, the general manager for Ford Performance, also spoke to The Athletic and fired back at the comments made by Towriss and Cadillac, stating: "Nothing could be further from the truth, in terms of our partnership with Red Bull being a marketing effort.

“We could have spent a lot of money to slap 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 really complement the audacious eﬀort that Red Bull decided to set down on in developing their own power unit.

"We found the areas where Ford can uniquely complement the skills and capabilities that Red Bull has, given the size and breadth and technical expertise within our organisation, with the intention of creating the best power unit in F1, just like we did in decades past.”

Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company - Photo: Race Pictures

Excitement building as 2026 car launches approach

With 2026 upon us, all eyes will be trained towards each team and their car launches for the upcoming campaign.

Ford will be involved in the first car launch of the season, as Red Bull, along with their sister team, Racing Bulls, will reveal their 2026 machines on January 15 in Detroit, Michigan, the home of Ford.

Cadillac will be revealing its livery in the American way, doing so during halftime of the 2026 Super Bowl, which takes place on February 8. European fans will see this take place in the early hours of February 9.

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