At Monza, only ten teams took to the track. However, behind the scenes during the Italian Grand Prix weekend, there was an eleventh contender working as if it were already part of the competition: Cadillac. The American squad has chosen to continue its path towards its official Formula 1 debut next year by behaving as though it were already on the grid, replicating the same intensity and rhythms of an actual race weekend.
This was not just a symbolic gesture, but a concrete and structured program. Starting from a clean sheet, Cadillac has been building a group that mixes experienced Formula 1 engineers with young graduates. The top priority has been to learn how to function as a single unit.
That means refining internal communication, synchronizing skills, and absorbing the relentless pace of a race weekend, where every minute is filled with tightly scheduled and interconnected activities. Learning to work together under strict deadlines is vital to avoid being caught unprepared once the real challenge begins.
To achieve this, the team launched a parallel program involving staff responsible for car operations and logistics, both trackside and remote, so that they would approach the huge challenge ahead with an already solid foundation.
The first simulated Grand Prix was the Spanish GP at Barcelona, running from Thursday to Sunday. The team covered every phase of the weekend, from free practice to qualifying, through to the race and even the related commitments, using the simulator located in Charlotte, United States.
Around fifty people, divided between the American base – which also houses the remote garage – and the English facility at Silverstone, where the chassis is being developed, replicated the duties and workload of a real Formula 1 race. The experiment was then repeated during the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
From Thursday onwards, the team worked on the simulator to fine-tune the “virtual car” session by session, simulating the analysis of the “track” data and adapting to the intense pace typical of a Grand Prix team. Each virtual practice cycle was followed by technical debriefs where engineers discussed interventions and assessed the impact of changes, a key step in calibrating timings with precision.
Alongside this, the team held “reliability meetings” to assess the quality and durability of specific components, even without a physical car. In a normal race weekend, an engineer would inspect the car after each session to check for anomalies, while data monitoring would extend to the gearbox, power unit and other systems. These procedures were recreated virtually as part of the program.
Strategic meetings were also included, where the team planned and discussed reactions to various race scenarios, from tyre management to a potential Safety Car intervention that could change everything. In the absence of a real car, a pre-set model was used, making these simulations all the more valuable.
These steps are also vital for internal software development. Every simulation produces valuable data that is stored and used to train algorithms capable of delivering more accurate predictions and scenarios. Once Cadillac takes to the actual track, things will become much more complex, but the groundwork laid through these exercises will support both the team’s strategists and its software tools.
The program even included simulating drivers’ media duties, despite them not being physically present. Valtteri Bottas, for example, was at Monza as Mercedes’ third driver, but Cadillac ran practice exercises to understand how to integrate media and sponsor commitments with technical briefings and on-car work within a packed weekend schedule.
In essence, Cadillac is building a “shadow championship” away from the spotlight, testing every procedure, putting every role to the test, and simulating every unexpected situation. The objective is clear: to arrive in Melbourne for the official debut not as a rookie outfit, but as a team that has already experienced, at least virtually, the pressure, rapid decision-making, and emotions of a true Formula 1 Grand Prix.
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