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- GM unveiled the livery version last month at a packed Detroit Free Press Breakfast Club event at its New World headquarters in Detroit.
- The livery reveal was GM’s second ad during Sunday’s Super Bowl.
General Motors unveiled the livery of the Cadillac F1 team’s first car in a television commercial that will air during the Super Bowl, one of the most expensive times of the day. However, before the broadcast, the team was hit with a lawsuit.
Cadillac has spent a lot of money to make its long-awaited F1 debut as the 11th expansion team at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne this year.
The one-minute spot unveiled the vehicle during a 60-minute broadcast from LX on February 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Tolis said in an interview that the brand spent up to $20 million for the slot.
On the other hand, advertising costs could be even higher. Within 24 hours of airing, the commercial was sued by Hollywood director Michael Bay. As first reported by The Athletic and Rolling Stone, the “Transformers” and “Armageddon” director filed a $1.5 million breach of contract and fraud lawsuit in Los Angeles on February 6, alleging that his ideas were used without compensation in advertising.
The commercial appears to liken the creation of the F1 vehicle to the Space Race by highlighting an image of the F1 vehicle and a portion of a 1961 speech given by President John F. Kennedy discussing plans to land Americans on the moon by the end of 1961.
Watch the commercial here:
A statement from a Cadillac F1 Team spokesperson emailed to the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, said the creative team behind the ad was in fact in talks with Bay to coach.
“However, after two meetings, it became clear that he would not be able to fit into our schedule and ultimately there was no way forward. It is unclear why he would bring this allegation forward as the concept and creative had already been developed and we were only exploring him as a director,” the statement said.
The ad had not yet been published at the time of the lawsuit, but the Cadillac F1 team called it “unusual.”
“We are confident that this matter will be resolved appropriately. Nevertheless, we still admire Michael Bay’s creative talent and welcome the opportunity to work together in the future,” the statement concludes. The ad was instead directed by Sam Piring, the company said.
According to GM, this year’s Super Bowl was expected to draw more than 130 million viewers. A replica of the Cadillac F1 team car was unveiled in Times Square on Sunday night as the black-and-white livery was unveiled on television.
The team released an updated statement purportedly from Torris, saying the team has great respect for Bey and is disappointed in the lawsuit.
“Indeed, all the creative was completed long before we spoke to him. We wanted to discuss with him his role as director rather than extracting creative ideas from him. The group we worked with did a great job in developing everything, so we are confident that everything will be resolved amicably,” he said. “But from our standpoint, last night was a great success. We’re very proud of the work that was done. That’s all I can say about it.”
The Detroit automaker ramped up excitement for its first-ever F1 car by unveiling a livery version last month at a sold-out Detroit Free Press Breakfast Club event amid a drizzle of fog at its New World headquarters in Detroit.
The vehicle, which GM’s F1 team called “shakedown livery” on the X, was a preliminary rendering of the brand’s actual F1 car.
This was the second ad GM ran during Sunday’s Super Bowl. During pregame coverage, Chevrolet aired a new commercial that is a “modern take” on the brand’s ad, “See the USA in Your Chevrolet,” sung by the late legendary entertainer and television host Dinah Shore.
The updated commercial features the same song, but sung by up-and-coming country singer Brooke Lee, known for her songs “Dandelion” (featuring Lukas Nelson) and “So Beautiful.”
Broadcasting during the pregame show is cheaper than the actual show. A 30-second commercial during Super Bowl 60 averaged about $8 million, said Mike Marshall, head of global advertising at NBCUniversal, who cited that number on a podcast last month.
Staff Writer Liam Rapley cContributed to this report. Jackie Charniga covers General Motors for the Free Press. Contact me at jcharniga@freepress.com.
