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Formula 1's impending debutant Cadillac has announced a spate of key details for its engine programme which is due to supply its works outfit with hybrid power units after an initial stint as a Ferrari customer.
The Cadillac F1 project, set up initially by Michael Andretti and his Andretti Global organisation, had its entry provisionally greenlit for 2026 after a long process that included a distancing from the Andretti brand name in favour of the General Motors-owned brand it will represent.
And a major part of what's made the entry acceptable to F1 is a pledge by GM to contribute a bespoke power unit - which Cadillac now estimates will arrive "by the end of the decade", having originally been pitched for a 2028 debut.
That project will now be overseen by GM Performance Power Units LLC (limited liability company), set up by GM and the new non-GM face of this project - TWG Motorsports, the racing arm of the TWG Global company that owns Andretti Global.
Long-time GM engineer Russ O'Blenes (pictured at the top of the page), who has served as the manufacturer's leading figure on the powertrain side of motorsport competition, heads up the new company as president and chief executive officer.
O'Blenes is credited by GM president Mark Reuss for "spearheading our hybrid IMSA Cadillac and Corvette C8.R engines that are proven winners".
"His expertise and leadership will be instrumental as we lay the foundation for Cadillac’s Formula 1 journey," said TWG CEO Dan Towriss.
The Cadillac project is to use a "dedicated facility" in the USA, more specifically in North Carolina - near GM's Charlotte Technical Center.
The company "is currently ramping up its team and is hiring in all areas of the business", said O'Blenes, who also expressed his pride at heading up a project that "will bring an American-built F1 power unit to the grid".
Cadillac says its Ferrari customer deal will be in place "until the GM [F1] engines are approved for racing use".
