Cadillac's Formula 1 engine factory in Charlotte, North Carolina, finally has a firm opening date: December 18. General Motors President Mark Reuss announced the news at a conference in New York, giving the automaker's growing F1 program a concrete milestone just before the holidays, even as the team continues racing with another manufacturer's engines under the hood.
Reuss Makes It Official in New York
Reuss delivered the date at the Autosport Business Exchange in New York, according to motorsport.com, which first reported that the factory will open on December 18. The announcement gives General Motors a permanent home for its Formula 1 power-unit project, according to the seed report from Grandprix.com. New construction at GM's Charlotte base is specifically tied to the F1 engine effort, per the outlet's reporting.
For now, Cadillac is racing with customer engines supplied by Ferrari, the site notes. That arrangement traces back to the FIA's 2025 approval of General Motors as a power-unit manufacturer beginning with the 2029 season, a timeline confirmed by the same report. The Cadillac Formula 1 Team joined the grid in 2026 and will keep using Ferrari power units until GM's own engines are homologated, according to Formula1.com, which adds that development and testing of the team's prototype engine technology is already underway.
A Factory, Not Yet a Race Engine
Cadillac team principal Marcin Budkowski, speaking at the Friday FIA press conference in Austin, described the Charlotte project as a statement of the team's and GM's ambition, per the Grandprix.com report. Budkowski visited both the existing provisional operation and the new facility on his way to the Austin race and said the plant will be inaugurated just before Christmas, the outlet reported.
Budkowski was careful to separate the building's opening from the bigger question of when Cadillac actually races with a homegrown engine. The factory opening is an infrastructure milestone, not the date a Cadillac power unit will first hit the track, according to the same report, and it does not settle the regulations or guarantee an eventual competition date. Cadillac is participating in ongoing discussions about Formula 1's next power-unit rules, and the team's path to becoming a full works operation depends on how those talks shake out, Grandprix.com noted.
GM has made tangible progress on the hardware side already. Road & Track reported that the automaker has run a test version of its upcoming turbocharged V-6 at its Charlotte technical center and has wrapped construction of a power-unit building there that includes additive manufacturing capabilities, according to Road & Track. That outlet's reporting states Ferrari will supply the American team through the 2028 season, while Cadillac plans to release its own power unit for 2029.
Testing in Austin Looked Beyond the Weekend
Cadillac's on-track running in Austin wasn't aimed solely at that weekend's event, Grandprix.com reported, noting that the sessions included experiments meant to help next year's car. The work fits a broader pattern described by other outlets covering the program: the-race.com reported the engine project is ahead of schedule under current regulations, quoting a team figure who said, “The project's ahead of schedule, actually.” The same source said the team is watching the regulatory conversation closely, adding, “We're really following the conversation on the regs closely,” a reference to potential rule changes before 2031.
GM President Mark Reuss has indicated the engine design itself remains flexible depending on where those rules land. Road & Track quoted him saying, “We can do either; we know how to make a V-8,” suggesting Cadillac could pursue either a V-6 or V-8 powertrain depending on Formula 1's eventual direction. The in-house engine program is led by Russ O'Blenes, CEO of GM Performance Power Units, according to racefans.net, which reported Cadillac had already begun work on its first F1 power unit.
How This Fits With Earlier Concord Plans
The Charlotte announcement follows separate reporting earlier this year on a larger Cadillac Formula 1 expansion planned for nearby Concord. The Charlotte Observer reported in February that Cadillac F1 planned to invest between $75 million and $85 million in a new facility at 4295 Defender Way, less than two miles from Charlotte Motor Speedway, while operating temporarily out of a General Motors facility at 4540 Fortune Way NW. That plan was expected to create up to 350 manufacturing, engineering, and research-and-development jobs, with Concord City Council approving nearly $744,000 in tax incentives over three years for the project's listed company, Motorsport IP Acquisition Co. At the time, construction was expected to begin in 2025 and finish in early 2027, according to the Observer's reporting. The dossier reviewed for this story does not clarify whether the December 18 Charlotte opening represents that same Concord project or a separate milestone.
