Towriss defends Cadillac’s bold black-and-white F1 livery for 2026

Following the reveal during the Super Bowl, some fans were quick to criticise the scheme, arguing it lacked imagination or felt visually confusing, with one side of the car painted black and the other white. Towriss, however, says the contrast is entirely intentional and meaningful.

“When we were developing the scheme, that’s when we really started to see the meaning in the colours,” Towriss explained on a call with several media including GPblog. “Black represents this bold attitude of the car. When you see the black side, it looks a little mean. It has some attitude.”

That aggressive edge is balanced by white, a colour with historic significance in American racing. “White is the racing colour of America, and we wanted to have white on the car,” he said. “It’s fresh, it’s clean, it’s optimistic.”

According to Towriss, it is the tension between those two ideas that defines Cadillac’s Formula One identity. “The balance of black and white is what really delivers who we are as a team. This represents us.”

He also pointed to Cadillac’s wider brand philosophy. While the marque’s badge is traditionally associated with red, yellow and blue, those colours fade away in its most performance-focused applications. “When you get into high performance, Cadillac goes monochromatic in its badging,” Towriss said.

Formula One, he believes, demands that same restraint. “This is the pinnacle of motorsport,” he added. “That’s why we leaned into black and white.”

Meanwhile 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.

A 19-page breach-of-contract and fraud lawsuit has come from film-maker Michael 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.

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