What Jeremy Clarkson got right and wrong about Cadillac’s livery

Celebrity F1 fan Jeremy Clarkson has questioned the Cadillac F1 team’s claim that its 2026 livery is “unmistakably American.”

Cadillac’s choice for its first-ever race livery was among the biggest question marks heading into the recent launch season.

Jeremy Clarkson questions Cadillac F1 2026 livery

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Fans were left to fear the worst when the team unveiled its all-black team kit and race suits for the new season ahead of the official livery launch on February 8.

The F1 world had seen too many mostly black cars over the course of the ground-effect era – a function of the teams leaving large sections of their cars unpainted in an effort to save weight – to tolerate another one.

So it was a pleasant surprise to some when Cadillac pulled the covers off its car – strangely yet to be given an official name – in an advert during the Super Bowl last week.

With a black-and-white mix – literally a black car when viewed from one side, a white car when viewed from the other – it is unique.

Some likened it to the ‘zip’ livery used by the BAR team in 1999.

Others – presumably those suffering from some sort of visual impairment (or simply just hungry to find nostalgia wherever they can grasp it, even in the dark) – found it reminiscent of the West-branded liveries used by McLaren in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Whether you like it or not, however, the colour scheme achieved what all good liveries should by getting people talking.

Clarkson became the latest figure to wade into the debate this weekend in a brief section of his column for the Sun newspaper, in which he took issue with the team’s claim that the livery is ‘unmistakably American.’

Alongside an image of the car – on this occasion showing its dark side – Clarkson wrote: “We are told that the new Cadillac Formula One car looks ‘unmistakably American’… Really? Is it fat?”

A parade of stars and stripes – and, indeed, Big Food – it may not be.

But it is at least different.

And different – offering something new to look at, bringing value, providing an alternative – is everything a new team on the block should look to achieve.

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Compare and contrast the impact of Cadillac to that of the last new team to arrive in F1 a decade ago: Haas.

In the two years between the team having its entry approved and making its F1 race debut, there was much talk of the distinct American flavour – hot dogs all round? Cheerleaders in the paddock? – Haas would bring to F1.

In the event, though, Haas produced barely a ripple in the water.

Beyond its unique technical partnership with Ferrari, still the cause of much debate today, it presented and carried itself exactly like every other team on the grid.

And as a result, it merely faded into the background. Made up the numbers. Became just another Formula 1 team on the Formula 1 grid.

Certainly, the growing US interest in F1 over recent years had very little to do with Haas, the most interesting aspect of which until recently was its sweary team principal.

It is a different Haas we see today, of course. More serious. More professional. More engineering-led.

And also more Japanese.

With Haas’s relationship with Toyota blossoming further in 2026 – the team is officially competing this season as TGR Haas F1 Team – there is a growing expectation that the car maker may buy the team outright within the next few years.

If that scenario unfolds, the path will clear further for Cadillac to become more unmistakably American in the future.

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