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GM Registers As Formula 1 Power Unit Manufacturer

As GM Authority reported back in February 2022, there was buzz that Alpine would supply the Andretti Cadillac F1 team with racing engines to compete in Formula One. Now, General Motors has announced that it has formally registered with the FIA to become a power unit manufacturer for the prestigious racing series.

The General went on to reveal that it has already begun testing and development of necessary prototype technology. In fact, the Detroit-based automaker expects that engineering an F1 power unit will help to further advance its experience in areas like electrification, hybrid technology, sustainable fuels, high-efficiency internal-combustion engines, advanced controls and software systems.

It’s worth noting that GM-built power units won’t be used in an F1 vehicle until the 2028 season.

Photo of a Cadillac race car, developed by GM.

Cadillac Racing V-LMDh race car

“We are thrilled that our new Andretti Cadillac F1 entry will be powered by a GM power unit,” GM President Mark Reuss stated. “With our deep engineering and racing expertise, we’re confident we’ll develop a successful power unit for the series, and position Andretti Cadillac as a true works team. We will run with the very best, at the highest levels, with passion and integrity that will help elevate the sport for race fans around the world.”

Notably, the FIA also recently approved an application that will allow Andretti Cadillac to compete in the FIA Formula One World Championship, becoming the only 2023 applicant out of four to reach this milestone.

Cadillac Racing V-LMDh race car

In other Cadillac Racing news, it was recently discovered that General Motors was approached by the F1 sanctioning body itself and allegedly asked to consider teaming up with an entity besides Andretti. Of course, The General ignored this request and soldiered on with the Andretti partnership.

While the aforementioned application has already been approved, GM must now seek approval from F1 itself, which has apparently been rather slow with its response, and has yet to provide an update on the status of the approval.

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As a typical Florida Man, Trey is a certified GM nutjob who's obsessed with anything and everything Corvette-related.

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Comments

  1. This is very cool, but it’ll be interesting to see how it really ties into electrification and hybrid technology. By the time they start racing in 2028, Cadillac should be well on its way to an electrified product line. I wonder why they aren’t more focused on Formula E.

    Reply
    1. because the average person doesnt care about formula e

      Reply
      1. Neither do most racing fans.

        Reply
  2. I don’t know where the hate for Andretti in F1 is rooted. I grew up watching Indy cars and always enjoyed their racing. Alpine for anyone right now is a bad move as they are likely down on power and a true gm/Cadillac engine allows gm to continue ICE powertrain development while still trying to shove EV’s out the door for the public. I think gm in F1 is a good move and will hopefully give more pressure to other teams to continue development.

    Reply
    1. You do not remember Michael’s foray into F-1? He is hoping everyone associated with the sport forgets his previous tragic attempt. F-1 considers itself as the top level of racing, Michael missed the mark once and he will regret it. F-1 wants American participation, just not an Andretti named Michael. Too bad for him, he seems to have learned how to finish and win races as an owner.

      Reply
      1. To be fair McLaren lost their Honda Engine. The team struggled and even Senna won one race. Often he was as fast as Senna but both were off pace due to the Cosworth engine.

        Mario has always been out spoken and I believe he is the one they are keeping out.

        Reply
  3. I will be shocked if this does not go poorly for GM…

    I could be completely off, but I have to think that F1 views GM as a potential replacement, not an addition…hence the slow process…in the event one of the weaker teams has to pull out.

    Regardless, I would like to see an Andretti team…too bad the bedt case is still many years away.

    Reply
  4. This is great if not surprising. Will they buy cosworth or just hire away engineers from cosworth, ilmore, Mercedes . Yes I know GM is full of engineers but it’s one thing to design things to last 200,000 miles vs 200 miles and extract 500hp per litre. It’s a different mindset. Race engineers have that need to run pieces till fail. I’m routing for GM but I’m afraid of over management, unions, opportunistic PR games ( look at our shinny new machine) and the corporate 9 to 5 mindset. Oh , and replacing qualified race mechanics with union floor line workers. I could make the no no list bigger but I won’t.

    Reply
    1. It’s already being done in house.

      Reply

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