Cadillac F1 chief ‘disappointed’ over Michael Bay Super Bowl ad lawsuit

Jamie Woodhouse 09 Feb 2026 8:30 PM

Michael Bay is suing Cadillac over its Super Bowl ad

Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss said the team is “disappointed” that Michael Bay filed a lawsuit regarding their Super Bowl ad livery reveal.

Stating that the livery launch was a “huge success” for Cadillac, Towriss is confident that an amicable solution will be found to the dispute with Bay.

Cadillac ‘disappointed’ by Michael Bay lawsuit

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Preparing to hit the grid as Formula 1’s new, 11th team in 2026, Cadillac thought outside the box with its first-ever F1 livery reveal, making the big unveiling in a Super Bowl LX ad.

But, ahead of that commercial airing, it was reported that Michael Bay, the American film director and producer, is suing the F1 team for $1.5 million in damages, the lawsuit alleging that the team had “stolen Bay’s ideas and work without paying for them” for the commercial.

Cadillac denied any wrongdoing.

Dan Towriss, the CEO of TWG Motorsports, which owns Cadillac F1, shed more light on the situation from Cadillac’s side.

“Our reaction is we have a lot of respect for Michael,” Towriss told PlanetF1.com and others. “I think it’s, you know, disappointed that he chose to do that.

“Certainly all of the creative was done well in advance of ever speaking with him. We were wanting to talk to him about a role as director, not taking creative ideas from him.

“I think the group, Translation, that we worked with, did an excellent job developing all of that, and so we’re confident it’ll be resolved amicably.

“But, from our standpoint, last night was a huge success, and we’re very proud of the work that was done. That’s all I can say on it.”

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Towriss was also quizzed on a rumour that the advert for the launch was supposed to air during the half-time show, as opposed to during the fourth quarter.

“So the commercial was always planned for the second break of the fourth quarter,” he clarified. “So everything actually went exactly as planned last night.”

In fact, the timing of the ad could not have worked out any better for Cadillac.

Towriss continued: “And it actually worked well for us here, because we had a viewing party here, and I’m actually in Times Square, New York City this morning, and we had a watch party with partners and folks from the team, and then we were able to go right out into Times Square with all of our fans that assembled there and do a physical reveal of the car just shortly thereafter.

“So actually, everything went off like clockwork last night. So we’re very, very happy with that.

“And I thank the Patriots for scoring a touchdown right before our commercial went, because maybe the game was a little slow, the touchdown happens, everybody goes, ‘Wait, got to pay attention. Something just happened.’ And then, boom, Cadillac Formula 1 is on the screen.

“So I think it couldn’t have gone any better.”

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