General Motors used its new digs on Tuesday, Jan. 13, to execute a dramatic, fog-filled reveal of Cadillac’s special edition Formula 1 racing livery test vehicle just as the brand prepares to enter the Formula 1 circuit.
During a wide-ranging conversation as part of the Detroit Free Press Breakfast Club (hosted by Free Press columnist Carol Cain), GM President Mark Reuss and automotive titan Roger Penske discussed GM’s willingness to sell the Renaissance Center, tariffs, Detroit’s revival, supply chain strains and relationships with suppliers. The event ended on an exhilarating note, as GM played a teaser video of its upcoming Formula 1 test racer on a giant screen, before lifting a wall of a ballroom in its new global headquarters to reveal the vehicle in person to the crowd.
The vehicle, which GM’s F1 team is calling a “shakedown livery” on X, is a preliminary rendering of the brand’s next F1 car. A shakedown livery vehicle, the team said on X, “is a temporary design used while a car is being developed. It’s built for learning, not for debut.
The Cadillac team will use the vehicle to dial in its aerodynamics and performance. The final vehicle — which Cadillac will race during the F1 season — is slated to be revealed during the Super Bowl on Feb. 8, Reuss said.
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The reveal was met with applause as fog crept out from under the rising wall, showing the car. With a black and white design and a large Cadillac shield on the rear of the vehicle, Reuss said the car’s design is not final, but was a collaboration between GM’s design teams and the F1 team owners. Its nose bears the names of people who worked on the car. The livery will take to the track for the first time in Barcelona for a private test event.
The car will be on display at the Detroit Auto Show until Jan. 25, GM said in a news release. The reveal is the first — and potentially the only — vehicle reveal to take place during the week of the 2026 Detroit Auto Show, which opens to the news media on Wednesday and to the public on Saturday, Jan. 17.
Liam Rappleye covers automotive news for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him: LRappleye@freepress.com.

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