When Cadillac decided to enter F1 in 2026, they knew they had to make a statement during the livery launch, and the American manufacturer chose a very different path from others.
Instead of keeping things low-key, the American brand stepped onto one of the biggest stages in sport. During the NFL’s Super Bowl in February, Cadillac revealed its first-ever F1 livery in front of millions of viewers in a very bold and expensive manner.
Cadillac Makes a Super Bowl Statement to the World
Cadillac’s one-minute advertisement aired during Super Bowl LX on February 8 at Levi’s Stadium in California. The commercial featured footage of the team’s beautiful black-and-white livery, with the famous “We choose to go to the Moon” speech by President John F. Kennedy playing in the background.
The message in the advert was simple and clear: “The mission begins,” and that mission is Cadillac’s push into F1 in 2026.
According to hints from the team CEO, Dan Towriss, the cost of the slot was similar to the usual Super Bowl rate, which is around $10 million per 30 seconds, and that means the full minute could have cost close to $20 million, and even by F1 standards, that is serious money.
Cadillac’s first car had already been seen in January during a Barcelona shakedown, which had been run in a basic testing livery, but the Super Bowl reveal was designed for a much bigger audience. This was about reaching people who may not even follow racing, especially in the United States.
For a brand backed by General Motors and TWG Motorsports, the idea was to gather all the attention, and there are few bigger platforms than the Super Bowl.
With more than 130 million viewers expected in the US alone, Cadillac made sure its arrival in F1 would not go unnoticed.
Cadillac Building the Brand and the Team
While the commercial grabbed headlines, Cadillac’s real work is happening far from television screens, as the team has been building its operation at speed, with bases in the United States and Silverstone.
Hundreds of staff have been hired, facilities are being developed, and partnerships are being put in place, making it a massive project, especially for a brand that has never competed in F1 before.
Towriss has openly admitted that the team expects to lose money in its first few seasons: “It’s probably a couple of years before on an operating basis the team would be in the black or breaking even on a cash basis.”
Sponsors will play a big role in that journey, but many fans have noticed that the car currently carries few major brands. Towriss was quick to point out that the TWG AI logo on the sidepods is the real deal, not just internal branding.
The livery itself also sparked debate: the F1 world wanted more color, especially after Cadillac’s bright designs at Le Mans in recent years, but the F1 car arrived in black, white, and chrome.
Towriss explained that every shade was chosen carefully, “When we’re developing a scheme, we see real meaning in the colours. For us, black represents this bold attitude of the car. And then white, which is the actual racing colour of America. So it’s really the balance of those two.”
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“The livery is the identity of the team, and so this represents us. Some people look to the Cadillac badge, you see the red, yellow and blue. But when you get into the high performance, Cadillac goes monochromatic in their badging. That’s an element of the brand that we wanted to lean into for Formula 1, the pinnacle of motorsport. And so that’s how we ended up with the black, white, and chrome as the colours of this team,” he added.
After the TV debut, a replica of the car was displayed in Times Square, giving fans another chance to see it up close, and shortly after, the real machine hit the track in Bahrain for a filming day, covering up to 200 kilometers on Pirelli demonstration tyres.
For Cadillac, the Super Bowl ad was never just about showing off its paintwork but rather about announcing its intentions. Spending millions on a commercial does not guarantee success on track, but it does show confidence, which they definitely need heading into this season.
