Ferrari with Cadillac-General Motors: an agreement to counter Mercedes' dominance

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Round and round, Mercedes is always there. The Three-Pointed Star team hasn’t won a Constructors’ Championship since 2021, but it has returned to the top as an engine supplier in 2024. A mere two-year drought for the High Performance Powertrains division in Brixworth, which, since the introduction of hybrid turbo power units one decade ago, has claimed 9 out of the 11 championships available. This dominance was interrupted only by Honda, which managed to clinch the 2022 and 2023 titles, the first two in the ground-effect era, which will last just one more year before the next regulatory revolution.

The 2026 Formula 1 regulations will bring sweeping changes not only to aerodynamics and mechanics but also to engines. For this reason, some fear the return of a so-called “engine formula,” as happened in 2014 when the German engine supplier better exploited the emerging rules, securing an advantage that persisted for years.

Unverified and unverifiable rumors suggest that the Mercedes six-cylinder engine, now without the MGU-H generator, is already delivering highly promising results on test benches. However, for now, this remains mere speculation, as engine departments are impregnable fortresses from which no information leaks, and into which the prying eyes of the press cannot penetrate.

It is reasonable to imagine, however, that the Three-Pointed Star will not be caught unprepared, given that it has proven itself to be the true dominator of the hybrid turbo era and has even managed to excel with a customer team, especially in a regulatory freeze that seemed to favor Honda.

This indicates that the engines were up to the task and that perhaps the cars were not fully able to exploit them. McLaren, in 2024, found the right formula and surged ahead to claim the Constructors’ title.

It is no coincidence that Alpine has abandoned its engine program, preferring to invest part of its Viry-Châtillon budget in acquiring a ready-made package that will power the French cars starting in 2026. These cars will lose their nationalistic identity but will undoubtedly rely on ready-to-use power units.

The agreement between the French team and Mercedes puts the Stuttgart-based manufacturer back in a dominant position, as it will continue to supply four teams on the grid. The only entity capable of counterbalancing this is Ferrari, which a few days ago formalized its agreement with Cadillac.

This will certainly be a transitional partnership, as the American manufacturer, part of General Motors, prepares to produce its own V6 engine. This is expected to happen in 2028, but there are no guarantees on this timeline.

The agreement could therefore even extend beyond that deadline. The vagueness surrounding the duration of the partnership suggests it might last until 2030, which is expected to be the final year under the new regulatory framework before another set of changes.

Let’s take a quick look at the Ferrari – Cadillac partnership and the importance of multi-supply. Supplying more than one team is undoubtedly advantageous for a manufacturer. Economically, it brings in more funds that can be reinvested in development and research. However, the benefits are not purely financial. Working with multiple teams allows for diverse feedback and insights to enhance the competitiveness of the engine-transmission package, something Ferrari will provide to its customers in exchange for substantial payments.

Recent Formula 1 history highlights the importance of establishing multiple collaborations. Honda, once it joined the Red Bull ecosystem, spent an entire year working with AlphaTauri, which was literally used as a testbed to bring the Japanese six-cylinder engines to the level of competitiveness we know today. Red Bull could afford to use its subsidiary team for this purpose, but generally, having multiple teams independently working on the same unit offers undeniable technical advantages.

Recent trends, on the other hand, show that operating in isolation is never positive, which is a warning sign for Aston Martin. Renault’s experience illustrates this: once it lost McLaren, it became increasingly entangled, eventually waving the white flag and shutting down its Formula 1 engine division. Alpine alone was not sufficient to provide adequate technical feedback or to cover the significant expenses required to maintain an engine department.

The Maranello team will therefore benefit from this new collaboration, having clearly understood the advantages of aligning with a new partner, both technically and financially. But there is another crucial aspect to this type of agreement: the political dimension.

In Formula 1, this aspect is never marginal. Having an additional ally at the tables where the rules of the game are defined is always a significant strategic advantage. In the rule-making process, which is basically how the foundational texts of F1 are created, it is beneficial to have extra support in order to exert more effective pressure, whether to promote one’s own ideas or to counter those of others. Since its entry into Formula 1, Mercedes has sought and established strategic alliances that have often allowed it to impose its corporate agenda.

With the agreement with Cadillac, a major manufacturer, Ferrari secures considerable political weight, which could prove invaluable in a sport fought on the track, in design departments, but above all in the halls of power where regulatory boundaries are set.

For this reason, the agreement with General Motors represents a partnership of great importance for Ferrari, which has decided to step up by leveraging every available tool in order to reclaim dominance in a category it has not won in for far too long.

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