Categories: Cars

Could It Help Shape Future Performance Cars?

Cadillac will hit the Formula 1 grid this weekend for the first time in the United States. The 2026 Miami Grand Prix kicks off on Saturday, where the Cadillac F1 team hopes to earn its first podium finish of the season—especially significant as it runs a new stars-and-bars livery exclusive to this race.

Ahead of the Grand Prix, our colleagues at Autosport sat down with General Motors CEO Mary Barra during the 2026 Autosport Business Exchange to discuss Formula 1, the company’s future, and what the next generation of performance cars could look like. (This interview has been edited for clarity).

Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing F1 Collector Series

Photo by: Cadillac

F1-Inspired Performance

The recent reveal of the powerful CT5-V Blackwing F1 Collector Series is just the beginning. Barra says the company’s performance car engineers and racing team work “very closely” when developing new products.

Without going into specifics, she pointed to models like the CT5-V Blackwing, the Corvette, and the Camaro—which is rumored to return as a production car in the coming years, though we suspect Barra was pointing to the Camaro ZL1 stock car currently running in NASCAR. She explained:

‘We work very closely [with motorsports], and there are learnings you see on the track that first find their way into vehicles like the CT5-V Blackwing, then into Corvette, into Camaro—all across the portfolio.’

Barra added that insights gained through motorsports directly improve the company’s performance cars:

‘What we learn makes our vehicles better, and it does make its way [to production cars]. What we learn from a validation and simulation perspective, especially, is very important.’

AI And Electrification

The discussion wasn’t limited to performance. Barra also addressed GM’s broader future strategy, including artificial intelligence, product development, and electrification.

When asked how AI will be used in future products, she said:

‘We’re leveraging [AI] in how we engineer vehicles with our autonomy team… Leveraging the models—ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini—with our own system. So we can take the best of the public cloud and combine that with all the information we have in the company, to really just help people get rid of the toil and the work that they do.

So there are big things we’re swinging for that will change the way we do things in design and engineering. But then there are also tools that help everyone make their job better—at least of a higher quality. Imagine if we could have a faster product cycle, we’d get more to the customer more quickly. So the opportunities are endless.’

Even as EV demand fluctuates in the US, Barra remains confident in GM’s electrification strategy, pointing to stronger momentum in other regions, including Europe, where models like the Cadillac Lyriq are gaining traction:

‘In this country, we’ve been a little slower [to EV adoption], largely due to the regulatory and the consumer incentive changes that were made last year. But we’re seeing growth in many different regions around the world. So Cadillac is now becoming much more accessible in other markets. And in some cases, it has been from an ICE perspective.’

Motor1’s Take: GM borrowing technology from F1 for its future road cars makes sense. Whether it be aerodynamics, hybridization, or engines, it’s great to know that the company is leveraging its on-track expertise for the showroom.