General Motors president refutes criticism of “participation in F1 engine name only”[F1-Gate.com]

General Motors president Mark Reuss has hit back at criticism that Cadillac is only participating in the F1 engine name in joining Andretti.

Mark Reuss posted on Twitter that the suggestion of “badged racing” was “ignorant”. While not commenting on specific criticisms of General Motors, it is notable for its proximity to its recent announcement with Andretti Global regarding F1.

Last week, Andretti and General Motors announced their intention to team up to compete in Formula 1. Michael Andretti’s handling of the latest announcement in his Formula 1 challenge has been lukewarm, but to some extent it helps F1’s desire to attract new automakers.

The lack of enthusiasm among existing F1 teams is likely due to the fact that General Motors will not build its own F1 power unit, at least at the start of the F1 project.

Mark Reuss commented, “It’s ignorant that GM is all about ‘badged racing’.”

“We are styling/designing the most beautiful car. We are designing a massive transformation to an electrified powercube. We are working with the race team. We are committed.”

The tweet included an image of the new Cadillac V-LMDh that Chip Ganassi Racing will represent the brand in the top class of this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA Sportscar Championship.

The V-LMDh is powered by Cadillac’s own 5.5-liter V8 engine known as the ‘LMC55R’ and represents a key difference from the F1 project.

In that respect, you might wonder if the Andretti Cadillac resembles an Alfa Romeo Sauber. Alfa Romeo essentially sponsors the Sauber F1 team, which will become Audi’s works team from 2026.

It’s that sentiment that Mark Reuss tried to address with his tweet, which seems to at least give the impression of technical involvement in the project.

In any case, Cadillac’s global vice president, Rory Harvey, recently joined other IMSA representatives in front of the media to admit that there is a “long way to go” in their efforts to join F1.

Ganassi Cadillac will participate in Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway starting January 20 (local time).

Category: F1 / Andretti