Tag Archives: F1

News

Tenneco Joins Cadillac F1, and Detroit Is About to Go Racing Again

If Cadillac’s return to top-tier motorsport was going to be more than a badge exercise, it needed real engineering muscle behind it. Enter Tenneco. The 125-year-old American supplier—best known in enthusiast circles for everything from Monroe dampers to Walker exhausts—has signed a multi-year technical partnership with the Cadillac Formula 1 Team ahead of its 2026 debut. And unlike the marketing-heavy tie-ups that often orbit F1, this one is about parts, data, and hard-nosed performance.

The pitch is straightforward: two old-school American engineering powerhouses teaming up to go fight the sharpest knives in global motorsport. Cadillac brings the ambition and the factory-backed Formula 1 program. Tenneco brings the stuff that actually keeps race cars alive when the boost is turned up and the margins are microscopic.

That’s not empty talk. Tenneco has spent more than a century building a reputation in environments where failure is not an option—factories, commercial fleets, and, crucially, high-performance automotive applications. Its long relationship with General Motors has put Tenneco hardware deep inside some of GM’s most demanding powertrain, ride, and emissions systems. In other words, the company already knows how GM thinks, how it engineers, and how it breaks things in order to make them better.

In Formula 1, that familiarity matters. Cadillac’s F1 effort is being built around GM Performance Power Units, and Tenneco will be embedded in the technical side of that operation, supplying a portfolio of performance-critical components and engineering support. The headline items are advanced powertrain and ignition technologies—exactly the sort of systems that decide whether a modern hybrid F1 engine makes class-leading power or ends the race coughing oil into the runoff.

But the real advantage isn’t just the hardware. Tenneco engineers will be working directly with Cadillac F1’s technical staff, integrating those systems into the car and feeding performance data back into development. That’s the Formula 1 flywheel: track data informs design, design improves the parts, and the next race gets a little faster. Do that better than the competition, and you win.

For Cadillac, this partnership is a signal that its F1 program isn’t being built on vibes and branding decks. It’s being built the way serious race teams are built: with suppliers that understand heat, vibration, stress, and the ugly reality of pushing components far beyond what any road car will ever see.

For Tenneco, it’s a chance to prove that its century-plus of engineering experience still applies at the absolute bleeding edge of automotive performance. If their technology can survive 300-kilometer-per-hour straights, brutal energy recovery systems, and the relentless pace of an F1 season, it can survive just about anything.

And for American racing fans, it’s something else entirely: another reminder that Detroit isn’t just about pickup trucks and crossovers. With Cadillac and Tenneco heading to Formula 1 together in 2026, the U.S. is putting real hardware, real engineers, and real ambition back onto the world’s fastest stage. That’s not nostalgia. That’s competition.

Source: Cadillac

News

Aston Martin’s New Vantage S Steps Up as Official F1 Safety Car

The Aston Martin Vantage S is trading pit lanes for pole position—at least when it comes to leading the world’s fastest race cars under caution. The British marque has confirmed that its most performance-focused Vantage ever will debut this weekend at Zandvoort as the new Official FIA Formula 1 Safety Car.

This isn’t just another marketing exercise. With a hand-built 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 delivering a stout 680 PS and 800 Nm (590 lb-ft) of torque, the Vantage S is plenty quick. Zero to 62 mph arrives in 3.4 seconds, and the coupe will carry on to 202 mph—comfortably within range to herd F1 machinery when called into action.

The Safety Car isn’t stock, either. Aston has engineered a number of changes to ensure stability and visibility when it takes command of the grid. There’s a new rear deck spoiler for added downforce, centrally mounted bonnet blades to vent hot air from the “hot-V” turbocharged engine, and of course, the FIA-mandated light bar perched on the roof. The setup was tailored to keep balance biased to the front axle, delivering sharp turn-in and grip levels suitable for professional safety car driver Bernd Mayländer, who will be piloting the Vantage S in front of the field.

“The Vantage S represents the peak of performance for the model that is the beating heart of the Aston Martin brand,” said Alex Long, Aston Martin’s global marketing director. “With increased power and even greater dynamic prowess, this car was destined to take on the prestigious role as an F1 Safety Car.”

It’s also a major brand play. Few stages rival Formula 1 for global exposure, and Aston Martin is doubling down. The Vantage S joins the DBX707—the SUV already serving as the official F1 Medical Car—both finished in Podium Green, the same shade worn by the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team cars.

For Mayländer, who has spent over two decades at the sharp end of the F1 pack in various Safety Cars, the Vantage S represents a new high-water mark. “The introduction of the Vantage S as the Official FIA Safety Car of Formula 1 represents yet another clear step forward in the Vantage’s performance capability,” he said. “I’m delighted to be one of the very first to drive it and look forward to experiencing the world’s greatest circuits in the most performance-focused Vantage to date.”

With its sharpened aerodynamics, upgraded dynamics, and the visceral thunder of its turbocharged V-8, Aston’s new Safety Car blends the brand’s grand touring soul with the urgency of motorsport. Safety has never looked—or sounded—quite so dramatic.

Source: Aston Martin

Hybrid

2025 McLaren W1 Limited Edition

Recently, McLaren unveiled its new super sports car, the McLaren W1. It is a super powerful successor to the F1 and McLaren P1 supercars.

McLaren W1 is the British brand’s most powerful car powered by a new 4-liter biturbo engine (MPH-8) with 929 hp (683 kW) at 9,200 rpm combined with an electric motor with a power of 347 hp (255 kW). Total power is 1,276 hp (938 kW) and 988 lb-ft (1,340 Nm) of torque, which is enough to push the car from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.8 seconds with an electronically limited top speed of 350 km /h (217 mph). Power is sent to the rear wheels via an 8-speed automatic transmission with an electronic differential lock.

The car is equipped with an adaptive suspension with three work programs (Comfort, Sport and Race) that provide unforgettable fun, adaptive body components with which the level of grip can be changed. The McLaren W1 weighs 1,399 kg, which means that it is only 4 kg heavier than the P1 model, and thanks to the high-capacity carbon-ceramic brakes, it only takes 29 meters to stop from 100 km/h.

McLaren will produce only 399 units of this supercar, and each car costs 1.95 million euros. All cars are already reserved.

Source: McLaren

Gallery:

2025 McLaren W1 Limited Edition