There’s No Place Like Home: Inside Cadillac F1’s Miami Grand Prix Takeover

Formula One’s new team is making its debut in the United States and is pulling out all of the stops, including a new livery, to make an outsized impact.

Cadillac F1 team unveiled a new livery ahead of its American debut at the 2026 Miami Grand Prix. | Courtesy of Cadillac F1 Team

For the first time since joining the Formula One grid earlier this year, Cadillac will race on home soil this weekend at the Miami Grand Prix. But this is unlike any other event for the American team, even if it’s just the new outfit’s fourth contested race weekend.

After all, there’s no place like home. 

The idiom from The Wizard of Oz has become a motto within the team ahead of Miami, Cadillac chief brand advisor Cassidy Towriss tells Sports Illustrated, and F1’s newest team is determined to show why in more ways than one at the first American race of the 2026 season. 

Earlier Tuesday, Cadillac unveiled a custom livery for the Miami Grand Prix weekend that leans heavily into American iconography. Fifty stars dot the front wing, while black stars and stripes cover the back half of the car’s chassis. Splashes of red and blue, the first such use of color by the team on its otherwise moon landing–inspired black-and-white paint job, light up the rear wing.

No place like home 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/2iekJGhiwf

— Cadillac Formula 1 Team (@Cadillac_F1) April 28, 2026

Incorporating a new livery just four races into the team’s maiden season, and after announcing the first-ever design with a Super Bowl commercial less than three months ago, was no small feat. The idea was already in the works before the initial livery’s release in February, Towriss says, but there was also an intention to ensure the new design didn’t come out of left field.

“We don’t want to completely reinvent what we’ve already started to establish as our identity and brand with fans,” Towriss says. “So it was really important for us to [ask], ‘how far do we push this?’ We need to show up and we need to look like ourselves.”

The result was something “elevated and enhanced,” Towriss explains, “without being too loud as Americans.” There may be a time and place for Cadillac to take such an approach, with races in Austin and Las Vegas still to come on the calendar, but Miami marks an important milestone in the team’s journey, albeit an early one.

The Miami Grand Prix, which will run for the fifth time this weekend, is synonymous with the rise of F1’s cultural impact in the United States. First contested in 2022, the race has become as well-known for its glamor and celebrity sightings as it has for the action on the track around Hard Rock Stadium. 

That reputation coincides with another stage of Cadillac’s off-track pursuits this weekend: a Miami-themed fanwear release from partner Tommy Hilfiger. The renowned designer serves as the team’s official apparel partner, an intentional choice as a distinctly American brand, and released a new merchandise drop that highlights elements of Miami design and culture.

“Miami is the perfect backdrop to launch our city-inspired capsules, capturing the energy of Formula 1 beyond the track,” Hilfiger said in a release. “I’m especially excited to be in Miami for the Grand Prix and experience that momentum firsthand. As the sport continues to evolve as a global cultural force, this collection gives fans a bold, expressive way to connect to the Cadillac Formula 1 Team and the spirit of the city.”

The city-inspired capsules will continue throughout 2026, Towriss says, with an emphasis on the remaining American races. It’s yet another way that Cadillac is seeking to emphasize its appeal with the “F1-curious fans” and then being able to convert those same people into fans of the newest kid on the block.

That mission is a personal one for Cassidy, whose husband Dan Towiss is the CEO of the Cadillac F1 team. And Miami holds a special place for the couple, who live in South Florida, not far from the circuit.

It’s in part what led to the final piece of the Miami puzzle for Cadillac: an in-person hub located at the Jungle Plaza in the city’s Design District that serves as a sort of home base, or “paddock away from the paddock”, as Cassidy says. Not only does the activation give a chance for Cadillac to bring together some of its top brand partners (features include a lineup of Cadillac cars, cocktails from Jim Beam, the new Tommy Hilfiger merch and more), but it also gives fans in South Florida a chance to participate in the race weekend without having to purchase a ticket to the race. Sergio Pérez will make an appearance at the self-proclaimed team “headquarters” on Saturday night.

The pace of F1 is relentless—something Cadillac has been keenly aware of since earning its official approval to join the grid early last year. As team principal Graeme Lowden told SI in February, “sleep’s an optional extra until Christmas.” But that mentality has extended to the commercial side as well. While Cassidy admits the idea of being able to plan further in advance to 2027 is tantalizing, there are tasks that need doing now and that means going full throttle to tackle as much as possible.

“We have so many ideas in the bank that have not gotten the opportunity to get used because, you know, this is a startup essentially,” Towriss says. “So our track performance is really a priority but also, I think with the scope of what Formula One is today, you have to be able [to] simultaneously run a media company alongside of your performance on the track.”

Valtteri Bottas has notched the team’s best finish this season, finishing 13th at the Chinese Grand Prix. | Gongora/NurPhoto via Getty Images

On track, progress has been slow and expectations tempered. Cadillac has yet to score a point in its first three races, one of just two teams alongside Aston Martin to remain scoreless going into Miami. Pérez and veteran teammate Valtteri Bottas have finished each of the past two Grands Prix in China and Japan, a small victory in a season that’s featured reliability issues among many of the grid’s 11 teams, but never placed higher than 13th.

A learning curve was to be expected, but the pressure cooker of F1 doesn’t cool down. And the same can be said for the commercial side, where the pressure to enter the consciousness of fans is constant, whether it’s those that are deeply rooted in the sports’s rich history or those that are still looking for a team to support.

Cadillac doesn’t seem to be shying away from that challenge and if pulling out all the stops during their American debut is any indication, it’s that the team will only continue to tackle as much as possible.

“I think we do feel that pressure to show up in a way that impresses fans, that isn’t just ‘oh, they did a good job with that.’ It’s like ‘they blew that out of the water,’” Towriss says. “We don’t take that lightly. We want to show up and do it well and do it right each time that we can.”

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