Despite a long and uphill journey, Cadillac has finally received the green light from Liberty Media and the FIA to be one of the eleven teams on the starting grid for the 2026 season, at the dawn of a new technical cycle.
One of the points raised in recent months, especially since the American brand secured its first agreement with F1 in November 2024, was that, without certain limitations like other teams, which were still focusing on 2025, Cadillac might have a competitive advantage.
While the current ten teams will work on two fronts, namely the final year of the current regulatory cycle and the 2026 season, when completely revised cars will debut in both the Power Unit and aerodynamics, Cadillac is already fully focused on next year. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the team is already in a position of advantage for the future.
In fact, while it’s not the first time an F1 team has joined the grid, Cadillac’s situation is quite unique, almost a novelty for the top tier of motorsport, with many facets involved, some related to regulatory matters and others to the team-building phase.
Although the team has already been active behind the scenes for months, with over 300 employees, putting it at a similar level to Haas in terms of size, Cadillac will actually have to comply with strict rules that will prevent it from having a competitive edge over its rivals.
When the first agreement was reached towards the end of 2024, Cadillac had agreed to follow specific rules, which the team’s Principal has defined as “unprecedented” in order to limit development. Furthermore, the fact that they only received final approval last week, much later than the initial target, has had a significant impact on several aspects, including hiring personnel and closing agreements.
“Of course, we would have preferred everything to happen much earlier, but we have always respected the FIA and F1 process, which has been incredibly thorough, and that is something I want to emphasize,” Graeme Lowdon explained in an interview with the media, also attended by Motorsport.com.
“In fact, I would say it was unprecedented in terms of the level of scrutiny. We are very grateful to the FIA and FOM for conducting such a thorough evaluation. But there’s also a downside, and that is that only now are we free from any restrictions and can act like any other team, and the time is short.”
“But all of this is part of the challenge. We just have to face and manage the situation and move forward. Would we have preferred a confirmation much earlier? Yes, of course. But we have respected the process. And this is the time, this is the time we have been given. So we just have to move forward and make sure we do the best job possible.”
In the factory, the first crash tests regarding the chassis have already begun, as part of the research and development work that any new team must undergo, especially when starting from scratch. The phase of the first prototypes, according to Graeme Lowdon, is already in an advanced stage, with the first chassis expected to be ready in two weeks, but on other fronts, the team will have to comply with the 2026 regulations, which other teams will also have to follow, not to mention that there will be additional specific rules that will apply already this year.
“Basically, we will have to follow the 2026 regulations like the other teams. Then there are other regulations we have agreed to follow this year, which I believe is unprecedented,” added the Team Principal, also making a comparison with Haas when it debuted in 2016. Back then, there were no specific regulations that limited the activities of a team entering the championship the following year, which allowed for greater freedom of action.
In contrast, the current rules include specific sections for new teams, both in terms of aerodynamic research and financial matters. While it can rely on some exceptions, particularly in presenting documents, Cadillac will not be able to spend without limits this year and will have to adhere to the budget cap like other teams.
“Previously, when Haas debuted, they weren’t subject to any regulations until they started racing. But now there are some regulations we must comply with, both by agreement and, in some cases, by our own choice. So, the entire entry process is different from what other teams have followed in the past.”
Cadillac will face restrictions in terms of aerodynamics, just like it will at the start of the 2026 season, with 115% of the standard base as a new team. But there’s another factor that cannot be overlooked: the fact that the team has no track correlation to study what it sees in the wind tunnel.
While it’s true that all other teams must study the new regulations exclusively through CFD and the wind tunnel, currently all teams can conduct comparative tests between the data they see on track and in the factory to understand if there’s a correlation between all the various elements.
An opportunity Cadillac doesn’t have, with the Team Principal highlighting how they lack the ability to correlate the tools and what’s being studied in the “virtual” reality, including in the wind tunnel in Cologne, with the real-world track data. This isn’t just about having data for 2026, but about having a foundation to compare and validate the data studied in the factory or the wind tunnel.
“It’s incredibly difficult to set expectations for a new team for a number of reasons. Sure, we have a lot of experienced people,” Graeme Lowdon explained, highlighting how Cadillac has attracted high-profile names such as Nick Chester, Pat Symonds, and Rob White over the past months.
“But a team also operates through a very complex network of processes. And what we don’t yet have is a sort of validation of the processes themselves. So, a good example might be: yes, at the moment we are very active in the wind tunnel, but we can’t correlate what the wind tunnel shows us with the track because we’re not racing.”
“So it’s very difficult to set expectations. It’s about preparing the car we want on time with the group of people we have. All these things impose very, very high standards. But in terms of measuring ourselves against others, even in the past, I think it’s even more complicated than usual.”
Leave a Reply