What can a Formula 1 team, an Army vehicle maker, and one of America's premier automakers learn from each other?

Kevin Baron sits down with Brandon Vivian, Executive Chief Engineer for GM Defense and Cadillac V-Series, beside the Cadillac F1 car on GM Defense’s exhibit floor at the annual U.S. Army expo, AUSA 2026 in Washington, D.C. GM calls it “front line to finish line”: technology moving back and forth between the racetrack, the road, and the battlefield.

Brandon explains why motorsport is GM’s proving ground, where engineers have to improve every week because the stopwatch doesn’t lie. He describes how the same virtual tools that shape the Cadillac F1 car’s aerodynamics also cool GM Defense’s hybrid Infantry Squad Vehicle Heavy. He also covers how a battery pack taken straight from the Cadillac Lyriq now delivers quiet, fuel-saving power in the field, and why NASCAR partner Hendrick builds parts for the Army’s ISV next door to GM’s plant in Concord, North Carolina. Along the way they talk about silent watch, a new generation of engineers who can both program and wrench, and what racing on the world stage does for GM’s credibility abroad.