MIAMI — The Cadillac Formula 1 team CEO lives in Fort Lauderdale and Indianapolis. The team grew from the efforts of the family of world motorsport’s most famous naturalized U.S. immigrant. It carries the brand name associated with accessible U.S. automotive luxury.

Perhaps fitting, then, that Cadillac F1’s first grand prix on U.S. land will be Sunday’s Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix. The Miami metro area’s known for vehicles like Cadillac Escalades and Miami-Dade has the nation’s highest percentage of immigrant residents (54.5%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau).

Everybody’s in the house this weekend for Cadillac F1: 1978 Formula 1 world champion Mario Andretti; General Motors executives; U.S. fans happy to see a Formula 1 team with a familiar U.S. name.

Team principal Graeme Lowdon said when he walked into a hotel during the 2025 F1 race in Austin wearing a Cadillac team shirt, “Just so many people came up to us on the street saying they can’t wait to see the team, offering support. Some of them were very clearly saying they’re new to Formula 1, and they’re coming because of Cadillac. That was a great feeling. It was similar in Vegas.

“And, the cool thing here is we’ve actually got the team now. I feel as if we’re bringing something different to Formula 1 that seems to resonate with the fans.”

For this race, Cadillac Formula 1 put special red and blue accents on its black and white car as well as the uniforms of drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.

While expressing excitement about the first “home race” aspect for Cadillac and being in his home area, Cadillac Formula 1 Team Holdings CEO Dan Towriss said, “We’re in this for the long term. Every race is the next step in the Cadillac Formula 1 journey. I’m proud of the progress the team has made even in the first three races of the year.”

On final position, the team turned in its best performance in the Chinese Grand Prix when Bottas and Perez finished 13th and 15th, respectively, in the season’s second race. In the constructors standings, Cadillac ranks 10th out of 11, ahead of Aston Martin.

Lowdon described the Cadillac garage as having experienced individuals who’ve been on championship teams, but short on staff numbers and time as a team.

”We’re racing against teams that have done literally thousands of grand prixs,” Lowdon said. “If there is a thing such as team muscle memory how you operate, other teams have that advantage. Everything for us is new. We saw a really big operational improvement from Melbourne to Shanghai to Suzuka.”

“I feel like there’s more things I need to be on, just to make sure we’re fully set for the weekend when it comes to run plan, tire choices,” said Bottas, who spent half his 12-season F1 life at Mercedes. “I feel like I want to double check everything from my side because we’ve been so busy on just getting the car running. We’re a well operating team in the garage, but sometimes, we have to prioritize things because we’ve been short of time getting things ready.”

Getting on the track certainly wasn’t a trophy dash.

The long and winding road to the start line

Cadillac named its chassis “MAC-26” or “Mario Andretti chassis” as a nod to the Italian-born driver who remains the most recent American to win a Grand Prix (1978) and the second American to win the F1 world title.

Andretti’s son, IndyCar championship driver and owner Michael Andretti, spearheaded the Andretti Global effort to become an 11th Formula 1 team. After an acceptance by FIA of the Andretti application, Formula 1 rejected Andretti Formula Racing in January 2024 with chunks of disrespect that choked the applicants and no few U.S. auto racing fans.

— “The most significant way in which a new entrant would bring value is by being competitive. We do not believe that the Applicant would be a competitive participant.”

— ”The need for any new team to take a compulsory power unit supply, potentially over a period of several seasons, would be damaging to the prestige and standing of the Championship.”

— “While the Andretti name carries some recognition for F1 fans, our research indicates that F1 would bring value to the Andretti brand rather than the other way around.”

Also, Mario Andretti told NBC News that CEO of F1 series owner Liberty Media, Greg Maffei, promised him during the 2024 Miami Grand Prix weekend that “I will do everything in my power to see that Michael never enters Formula 1.”

While no new team could be expected to be competing for wins, poles or even podiums out of the box, two of those issues could be addressed. Michael Andretti stepped back from the team, and Towriss took the wheel.

And, the team could eventually say that Cadillac, which has had success in sports car racing, eventually would be the team’s engine supplier. Starting in 2029, Cadillac F1, which runs Ferrari engines now, will run Cadillac engines built in Charlotte in a chassis built in Fishers, an Indianapolis suburb.

The dream of an American team

The red, white and blue hasn’t seen much checkered over Formula 1’s 76 seasons.

The Ford-badged Cosworth engine powered every non-Ferrari world F1 champion from 1968-82. Michael Schumacher drove a Ford engine to the first of his seven world titles. Californian Dan Gurney gave the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix its place in history by driving his All-American Racers Eagle to first place, the only F1 win for a U.S-built chassis.

“It was super important to TWG and GM that we be an authentically American team. It’s a process,” Towriss said. “A lot of the formula 1 talent exists in the UK. The UK folks who are part of the team are excited about helping us build the American team.”

Lowdon said, ”Clearly, I’m not American, but I’m very proud to wear the Cadillac badge and very proud of what we’re building as a team.”

Cadillac starts life with Finland native Bottas and Mexico native Perez, experienced drivers who won in F1 while No. 2 drivers with Mercedes and Red Bull, respectively.

The expectation is that Californian Colton Herta, who won nine races over eight seasons with Andretti’s IndyCar team, eventually will take one of those spots once he gets enough points for his Formula 1 superlicense. To that end, Herta’s running Formula 2 this season.

Towriss said, “Hopefully, we’ll continue to redefine what it means to be an American team, one that isn’t just defined by a slice of ownership, but, in a sense, the overall identity of the team — an American interpretation of a Formula 1 team.”

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