General Motors makes its debut and Ford returns to Formula One racing

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+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop The Best Music of 2025 All Songs Considered Tiny Desk Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics General Motors makes its debut and Ford returns to Formula One racing The Formula 1 World Championship racing season begins this weekend.

+ National General Motors makes its debut and Ford returns to Formula One racing March 6, 20264:24 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered From By Quinn Klinefelter General Motors makes its debut and Ford returns to Formula One racing Listen &middot; 3:51 3:51 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5729603/nx-s1-9678065" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript The Formula 1 World Championship racing season begins this weekend. It's the most expensive, technically advanced version of auto racing, and both Ford and General Motors will be making history. Sponsor Message JUANA SUMMERS, HOST: Formula 1, or F1, is gearing up for the first race of its world championship season this weekend, and there are some surprising new competitors on the track next to race cars from Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes. For the first time, General Motors is entering the competition, and Ford is returning to F1 after a long absence. From member station WDET in Detroit, Quinn Klinefelter reports.

+ QUINN KLINEFELTER, BYLINE: The Ford Motor Company hosted a gala earlier this year. It was a celebration of a new paint scheme for the cars of its racing team partner, Red Bull Formula 1. That team's won multiple F1 championships, and Ford's executive chairman, Bill Ford Jr., says racing is in the automaker's blood. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) BILL FORD JR: A hundred and twenty-five years ago, my great grandfather, Henry Ford, won a race right here in Detroit to help launch the Ford Motor Company. Alongside Red Bull, we intend to make history again. KLINEFELTER: Ford is helping Red Bull build its own engine, a process that's taken years. The automaker's global director of racing, Mark Rushbrook, says there's been an explosion of interest in Formula 1 in the U.S. sparked by films and TV shows about the sport. He says that makes investing in it worthwhile for both the company and people looking to buy a Ford. MARK RUSHBROOK: To be in Formula 1, we're going to have a great audience, great diversity in that audience, but there's so much innovation and tech transfer that will make it onto our vehicles that we sell to our customers. KLINEFELTER: It's been more than two decades since Ford was in F1, and for the first time ever, the racing series includes Ford's crosstown competitor, General Motors. RUSHBROOK: When we came into Formula 1, we took the decision to come in before GM did because we wanted to race against Ferrari, Mercedes. We knew Audi was coming in. We believe it's great that GM is coming in with Cadillac - not necessarily a rivalry, per se. KLINEFELTER: While Ford's joining an established team, General Motors' Cadillac is creating a car and eventually an engine entirely from scratch. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) GRAEME LOWDON: And this team has grown from a sheet of paper - literally, a blank sheet of paper. KLINEFELTER: Cadillac team manager Graeme Lowdon says GM had to design and build a car while hiring enough people to staff a F1 team that typically includes 1,000 employees, including engineers, attorneys, marketers and others. But on the official F1 podcast "Beyond The Grid," Lowdon said the U.S.-based team is still grooming U.S. driving talent. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) LOWDON: 'Cause we talk to the fans, we know it's something that they want to see - American driver in an American car, ultimately with an American engine. But, you know, this is Formula 1. You can't go for second best just because it ticks some other box 'cause you're not going to win. (SOUNDBITE OF CAR RACING) KLINEFELTER: Cadillac made it to the track for test sessions earlier this year, but getting into F1 almost did not happen. Formula 1's management initially rejected U.S. race team owner Michael Andretti's joint bid with Cadillac to enter the series. The team was accepted after Michael Andretti stepped down. His father, legendary racer Mario Andretti, became a board member of the team, and Cadillac named its first Formula 1 car after him. Mario Andretti says the result fulfills a dream he's had since the 1960s, when he met Zora Arkus-Duntov, who had turned GM's Corvettes into race cars. MARIO ANDRETTI: I kept saying, Zora, you've got to get General Motors into Formula 1. He said, oh, Mario, he says, I speak, I speak, no one hear me now. But now they heard. KLINEFELTER: And GM officials say finally entering F1's first race in Australia does not mean Cadillac has reached the finish line. They say it's just the start. For NPR News, I'm Quinn Klinefelter in Detroit. (SOUNDBITE OF DOECHII SONG, "NISSAN ALTIMA") Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. 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