Updated

Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 1

UK Marks America’s 250th Independence Anniversary With 4 July Tours, Parades and Exhibits

Updated

Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 1

UK Marks America’s 250th Independence Anniversary With 4 July Tours, Parades and Exhibits

Q: Is Cadillac's plan for an all-American engine and driver a realistic goal or just a marketing dream?

Cadillac’s all-American engine looks realistic; an all-American driver is plausible but less certain and still depends on talent development and timing. On the engine side, this is no longer just branding. Cadillac is using Ferrari power units from 2026 through 2028 specifically to buy time for General Motors to build its own Formula 1 engine for 2029. GM says development is on schedule, has already run a test version of its turbocharged V6 in Charlotte, and has built a dedicated power-unit facility there. That matters because F1 engines are among the most complex projects in motorsport, and Cadillac now has a clear timeline, infrastructure and manufacturer backing. The risk is execution: new engine programs are expensive and technically difficult, so “realistic” does not mean guaranteed to be competitive immediately. The driver plan is more aspirational. Cadillac’s current lineup of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas shows the team values experience while it stabilizes its first season. That makes sense for a new entrant dealing with reliability problems and back-of-grid performance. An American race driver is clearly part of the long-term identity, with Colton Herta the most discussed candidate, but getting there requires Super Licence eligibility, F1-ready preparation and an open seat at the right moment. So the engine project is a credible industrial plan. The American-driver goal is achievable, but it remains more of a medium-term ambition than a near-term certainty.

3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 1

Special events across the UK are marking the 250th anniversary of American independence, with London history walks, a Lewes democracy parade and museum programmes tied to 4 July.
A rare 4 July 1776 printed Declaration of Independence—intercepted by British soldiers and annotated before being sent home—is on display at the American Museum & Gardens in Bath, while Washington Old Hall plans public readings.
Lewes will lead its Festival of Democracy with an 8ft Thomas Paine skeleton puppet, underscoring how British thinkers and places fed into the American Revolution.
Near Omagh, the Ulster American Folk Park is using Appalachian cooking demonstrations to trace how Ulster migrants shaped U.S. food culture and how ideas moved both ways across the Atlantic.
Organisers say the semiquincentennial is less about fireworks than about revisiting shared history, giving Britons and visiting Americans a wider view of the 1776 break.