Cadillac to open Charlotte F1 engine factory on 18 December as team endures pointless 2026 season

Cadillac’s Formula 1 engine factory in Charlotte, North Carolina, will open on 18 December, General Motors president Mark Reuss announced at the Autosport Business Exchange conference in New York. The facility marks a concrete step toward GM’s FIA-approved entry as a power unit supplier from the 2029 season onwards.

“We’re opening our whole engine factory, if you will, in Charlotte, North Carolina on 18 December,” Reuss said. “So that’s coming really well.”

The timeline, however, is complicated by wider regulatory shifts. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has committed to Formula 1 switching back to V8 engines — potentially running on sustainable fuel with a reduced electric component — by 2031. If that transition is brought forward to 2030, GM’s bespoke power unit could see as little as one season of competition before the regulations change again.

On track, Cadillac’s maiden F1 season has been a difficult one. The team is the only outfit yet to score a point in 2026, and the MAC-26 has qualified slowest of all at each of the last four rounds. In the interim, the team is running customer Ferrari power units.

Reuss drew a parallel with Cadillac’s success in GTP prototype racing, framing the current struggles as a necessary phase of construction rather than a cause for alarm. “We’re not here to finish last, so we’ve got to follow through and build this team, build the powertrain and build the car, like we did in GTP,” he said. “That takes a little more time here, because this is a place where we’ve never raced. You’ve got to get the right people with the right engineers and the right drivers, and we’ve got to get that process really going, and it’s logarithmic, it’s not linear.”

Veterans Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas are providing experience during the development period, though both drivers are recording their worst career results. Reuss was candid in his appreciation for their composure under difficult circumstances.

“Both of these gentlemen in the race for us do that, and they really understand what it takes and the process,” he said. “I’m very, very happy that they’re patient with us, to be honest; that takes a special person.”