Ford vs. Cadillac is about to spill onto Formula 1’s biggest stage — and Ford’s already thrown the first jab.
Mark Rushbrook, the Blue Oval’s motorsport boss, couldn’t resist a dig at his Detroit rival while sizing up 2026: “Cadillac will be in Formula 1 in 2026 — with Ferrari engines!” he told Auto Motor und Sport. The subtext is clear. Ford’s arriving arm-in-arm with Red Bull Powertrains to supply the team’s next-gen units, while Cadillac’s entry will initially lean on customer hardware before its own power unit lands later in the decade.
The timing matters. F1’s 2026 reset brings a slimmer, lighter car with active aero and no DRS, plus a power unit formula that leans far harder on the electric side — roughly an even split between the hybrid system and the internal combustion engine. It’s exactly the kind of technical shake-up that lures carmakers, and this time the American badges are turning up in force.
Rushbrook says Ford’s original brief was simple: learn fast in hybrid tech — batteries, energy deployment, integration. But as work with Red Bull intensified, Ford’s scope grew. “We became more and more involved,” he explained, not only in the ICE but “the entire car” and even “on the operational side.” Translation: this isn’t a logo-on-the-cam-cover program. Ford wants its fingerprints on the whole project.
Cadillac’s path has been noisier. What began as an expression of interest alongside Andretti morphed after FOM’s rejection into a reworked effort under American businessman Dan Towriss, with the Cadillac name front and center. The twist — and Rushbrook’s punchline — is that the car will run Ferrari power at the start while GM develops its own unit for a planned 2029 debut. There’s nothing wrong with buying in, of course. It’s just not the Ford way this time.
If this feels familiar, it should. Ford vs. GM is muscle memory in American motorsport — Supercars had Ford vs. Holden baked into its DNA, and NASCAR’s weekly Ford–Chevy skirmishes have defined eras. Now F1’s about to get its slice of that long-running feud, only with active flaps, energy recovery, and a very different kind of horsepower.
Rushbrook insists Ford’s up for it, no matter the badge across the garage. “We’re looking forward to the competition,” he said. “Whether it’s Ferrari cars with Ferrari engines, Cadillac cars with Ferrari engines, or anyone else’s!”
The message is unmistakable: when the lights go out on F1’s new era, Detroit won’t just be watching. It’ll be swinging.
