Boardroom spoke to the newly appointed CMO about how he plans to make Cadillac F1’s debut a digital-first, creator-driven moment for American motorsport.
Cadillac’s upcoming Formula 1 debut isn’t just about building a car fast enough to compete with the world’s best. It’s about building a brand, one that feels as bold and innovative off the track as it does in the garage.
To lead that charge, the team has named Ahmed Iqbal as its first Chief Marketing Officer. The former TikTok and Twitter executive steps into the role with a mission to turn Cadillac F1 into what he calls “America’s home team.” However, his strategy won’t rely solely on traditional advertising or glossy sponsorships. Iqbal believes the sport’s next great fan base will grow online through creators, community, and culture.
“The goal is to build America’s home team and really solidify our place, America’s place, in the pinnacle of racing in Formula 1,” Iqbal told Boardroom in an exclusive interview. “We’re setting out to deliver a brand that is as dynamic and innovative on the track as it is off it.”
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From Car Lots to Culture
Iqbal’s story started far from the F1 paddock.
His first job in automotive came during college, when his dad struck a deal while buying a Honda Accord: He’d sign the paperwork only if the dealer gave his son a summer job. That bargain landed Iqbal on the sales floor, where he spent his summers learning how the business really worked, from the rhythm of the showroom to what actually moves a customer to buy.
That early experience led Iqbal to a seven-year tenure at Audi of America, where he climbed the ranks to Chief of Staff. That role put him in rooms where the future of driving was being written, from electric vehicle launches to mobility innovation. But more importantly, it helped him realize what he loved most about the business.
“My favorite passion was actually just telling stories and making people feel something,” he said. “Making people feel seen, making people feel excited about something, and bringing some positivity and lightness to their day.”
After realizing at Audi that his true passion was storytelling — not just selling cars, but creating emotion and connection through the brand — Iqbal started looking beyond the traditional automotive world. While attending the Young Lions program at Cannes, he got his first real glimpse of global marketing at scale. The festival exposed him to a creative energy and cross-industry thinking he hadn’t seen before. Over lunch with a Twitter executive who wanted to better understand how car brands could use social platforms, that curiosity turned into an opportunity that would change the course of his career.
“I kind of rebuilt her whole pitch,” Iqbal said with a laugh. “I told her, here’s how you should be approaching the CMO of an automotive company. These are the stories and the data points that would actually land.”
Iqbal’s passion eventually pulled him out of the traditional automotive industry and into the tech sector. That two-hour lunch turned into a beachside interview the next day with Twitter’s head of global brands. Within two weeks, he was hired to lead the company’s global automotive strategy. At Twitter, Iqbal focused on helping the platform shape how carmakers presented themselves online. He spent the next three and a half years doing just that, but when Elon Musk acquired Twitter, Iqbal decided it was time for a new challenge.
That’s when TikTok came calling, looking for someone to do what he’d done globally at Twitter, but this time build the automotive business from the ground up in the U.S. The social media platform already had a small presence in the space but wanted to expand significantly, from creative campaigns to platform-specific ad products tailored for automakers. Iqbal joined to lead that charge, assembling a team and scaling the category for the past two and a half years. In the process, he proved that the next generation of car buyers — and racing fans — were being shaped by the creators, trends, and cultural moments happening on their For You Page.
By the time Cadillac called, Iqbal had built a rare hybrid skill set.
“I’ve learned automotive and its full ecosystem,” he told Boardroom. “I’ve learned social media from the lens of cultural relevance, and that kind of sets me up for this world of automotive and new media.”
Reimagining the Formula 1 Fan, the Digital Way
Iqbal’s arrival at Cadillac F1 comes at a pivotal moment for both the sport and its audience. Formula 1 has never been more visible, or more online. What used to live on broadcast television and race-day highlight reels now thrives on TikTok edits, creator collabs, and real-time fan discourse that moves at the speed of social media. For Iqbal, that shift isn’t just a marketing opportunity; it will be the foundation of Cadillac’s F1 identity.
“The goal is to build America’s home team,” he said.
To do that, the brand needs to meet fans where they already live: on digital platforms, in group chats, and across the creator economy. Iqbal sees creators not just as online influencers, but as media channels in their own right; a new kind of broadcast network for modern fandom. Under his direction, Cadillac F1 won’t rely on race-weekend spectacle alone. It will focus on the everyday storytelling that happens between Grands Prix — the testing, the engineering, the people behind the build — what he calls F1’s “negative space.”
By giving creators and fans access to that world, Iqbal plans to turn behind-the-scenes moments into global conversations. His philosophy is simple: content should educate and entertain, making the sport feel both aspirational and accessible.
“For new fans, you have to go to where they are versus trying to pull them into where you are,” Iqbal said.
That means explaining the complex science of Formula 1 in ways that feel human, visual, and shareable, while giving diehard fans new vantage points and deeper access than ever before. It’s a strategy that mirrors his career; translating precision and engineering into culture and storytelling. And it’s why Cadillac’s entry into F1, the first fully American manufacturer-led team, feels like more than just a racing milestone. With operations spanning Indiana, North Carolina, and Silverstone, and a driver lineup featuring Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez, the team is built to compete on the track. But Iqbal’s goal is just as ambitious off it: to create a digital-first brand that resonates from Detroit to Dubai.
“Our main focus should be building a fan ecosystem that is attainable and accessible for fans across the world,” he said.
That ecosystem will live on social platforms as much as it does in paddocks, powered by creators, community storytelling, and an open invitation for fans to join the journey from the ground up. For Iqbal, the debut season isn’t just about points or podiums. If Cadillac F1 can make people feel like part of the build, he believes it can redefine what it means to root for a racing team in the digital age.
Defining Success in Year 1
When the lights go out in 2026, Iqbal won’t just be watching lap times; he’ll be watching the community.
“Success for me in the first season would be, one, having a program that everyone is proud of about the work that we had as a people,” Iqbal said. “Second, that we solidify ourselves as America’s home team … that everyone at the end of that season is like, I’m on that journey with that team that’s building something from scratch.”
That idea of shared ownership, between the team, its partners, and its fans, is the through-line in everything Iqbal’s building. Cadillac F1 aims to cultivate a fandom that feels participatory, digital-first, and deeply connected to the culture surrounding it.
The road to 2026 will be measured by car development milestones and engineering breakthroughs, as well as by how the team showcases its work — on social media feeds, in factories, and through the creators who bring those stories to life.
For Iqbal, that’s where the real win lies: turning the build itself into the story. And if all goes according to plan, America’s newest Formula 1 team won’t just compete for points; it’ll compete for new fans.
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