Formula 1: General Motors sets up new engine company
2025-01-09
Category: sports

US car company General Motors has set up a new engine company as it gears up for its prospective entry into Formula 1.GM has an agreement in principle to start in F1 in 2026 with a new team named after its luxury Cadillac brand, partnering with US group TWG Global. GM says it is forming a specialised engine-building company, called GM Performance Power Units, to build the engine the team will eventually use.A statement said the company would "put Cadillac on the path to being a 'full works' team - building F1 vehicles and power units - by the end of the decade".It did not specify an exact year for the debut of the GM F1 engine.Cadillac will use Ferrari customer engines from its debut next year until its own engine is ready for use.GM said testing of prototype F1 engine technology had already started in its motorsport technical centre in Charlotte, North Carolina, and in 2026 it would open a dedicated facility for the F1 engine programme nearby.The chief executive officer of the new company will be Russ O'Blenes, head of GM's motorsports propulsion and performance team.Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports, said: "We're delighted to welcome Russ to this pivotal role. His expertise and leadership will be instrumental as we lay the foundation for Cadillac's F1 journey."Together with team principal Graeme Lowdon, they will lead the team in setting new standards of performance and innovation in the sport."
GM president Mark Reuss said: "Russ brings vast experience from many championship racing series, and has outstanding technical expertise, including spearheading our hybrid Imsa Cadillac and Corvette C8.R engines that are proven winners."In F1, we're going to demonstrate GM's engineering and technology capabilities on a global stage, and Russ is the right choice to lead the power-unit team that will make it happen."Cadillac/GM is one of three major car companies entering F1 as a result of the new engine regulations being introduced in 2026, along with its US market rival Ford and Germany's Audi.Ford is partnering Red Bull while Audi is setting up its own factory team having bought Swiss-based Sauber.They will join F1's existing engine manufacturers Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda.Renault, which owns the Alpine team, is ending its F1 engine programme after this year, with the team switching to Mercedes customer engines.The new engine rules will mean the proportion of power provided by the hybrid part of the 1.5-litre V6 turbo engines will increase to about 50% from the current 20%. And F1 is mandating carbon-neutral sustainable fuels, either made from biomass or synthetic sources.