General Motors has announced that it has registered to become a Formula One power unit manufacturer with the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) as of 2028. The move adds more steam to Andretti Global’s bid to join the sport.
Although Cadillac and Andretti announced their partnership in January, the level of GM’s involvement was not fully clear at the time. With this, the nature of the brands’ partnership is neatly outlined.
“We are thrilled that our new Andretti Cadillac F1 entry will be powered by a GM power unit,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “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.”
Read: FIA Approves Andretti’s Bid To Enter F1 With Cadillac, But It’s Not Over Yet
That last comment may be of particular importance to Andretti Cadillac F1’s entry into the sport. Although the team has already received approval from the FIA, that only means that the governing body believes that it has the resources and expertise to become a healthy competitor. The team still has to convince Formula One proper that it’s worthy of being added to the grid.
That has proven difficult for Andretti Global, which over the years has tried and failed to find a foothold in the sport. However, The Race reports that F1 has shown a preference for fully fledged teams that come in with their own powertrain providers, rather than customer teams that buy their engine from one of the sport’s existing suppliers. This move may be targeted at making its bid more tempting for the sport.
Although the power unit will not enter into competition until 2028, and Andretti’s bid has not yet been accepted, Cadillac says it has already started testing prototype technology for this project. Whether the automaker has a contingency plan to sell the powertrain to another team if the Andretti effort falls flat is unknown.
Regardless, GM says that the project will help advance its expertise in electrification, hybrid technology, sustainable fuels, high-efficiency combustion engines, and more.
