General Motors has set up a new division to create power units for the team it intends to enter into F1 next year.
It has already announced a deal to use Ferrari power units from next year as part of a “multi-year” arrangement, indicating it would begin using its own power units in 2028 at the earliest.A statement issued on Thursday by General Motors and TWG Motorsport said the newly-formed GM Performance Power Units LLC will “put Cadillac on the path to being a ‘full works’ team — building Formula 1 vehicles and power units — by the end of the decade.”
GM intends to open a dedicated facility for its Performance Power Units division near its technical centre in Charlotte next year.
Russ O’Blenes will be the CEO of the new venture. He has had a long career in power unit development for road and racing cars and previously worked at GM’s Performance and Racing Center in Michigan.
“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,” said Mark Reuss, president of GM. “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.”
O’Blenes said he is “truly excited to have the opportunity to build and lead the team that will bring an American-built F1 power unit to the grid.
“GM PPU is currently ramping up its team and is hiring in all areas of the business.”
Formula One Management confirmed in November it had reached an “agreement in principle” for the Cadillac-branded team to join the series as a new, 11th team next year.
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pcxmac (@pcxmac)
10th January 2025, 1:51
Haas to move towards a Honda/Toyota partnership, would be great. Toyota racing team + Honda power train. That and Porsche moving to Williams.
MacLeod (@macleod)
10th January 2025, 8:08
@pcxmac That is not a sure thing as Toyota and Honda weren’t good friends … Seems I was wrong on the GM engine thing as they have an foundation in Hybride technic for racing. Atleast they have time to test engine for real.
SteveP
10th January 2025, 13:20
Whatever happened to the Cadillac branded PU that MA said would be ready for the car in 2026?
Over 12 months since MA made those noises, and now we have the PR that GM have just set up the division to develop a unit for 2028 or later?
Vapourware?
APracticedObserver
10th January 2025, 15:24
What ever happened to the 2026 GM power unit? You are bringing that up for the first time, you tell me. Since the Andretti team announcement the publicly stated plan was to use Renault engines to get the team on track experience while GM was developing their own power unit in order to get them the strongest start when it was ready to put in the car.
The only thing that changed in the plan is the that Renault was swapped for Ferrari.
T
10th January 2025, 17:44
I mean Steve didn’t pull this out of nowhere
To be fair and balanced to Micheal, at that point the man was just saying any and everything into any and every microphone shoved in his face.
In that period Cadillac/GM had only announced their commitment but not even actually registered as a Pu supplier
Also bear in mind a 2026 power unit would quite literally have been impossible even if all the money in the world was thrown at it. The deadline had passed.
Hope this helps
MichaelN
10th January 2025, 17:05
Andretti never had an engine for 2025 or 2026. Back in 2023 it was argued that Honda or Renault would be obliged to supply them, as Audi would – as a new constructor – be exempt from supplying a team without an engine, and they had only one customer. The Honda story was a bit questionable as it technically supplies two entries (but one team). Some in F1 naturally complained about this, but when the FIA approved the Andretti entry it was known they had no engine and the FIA argued that the rules about supplying a team also applied to new entries.