Graeme Lowdon has admitted that Cadillac’s F1 debut has presented an even greater challenge than expected, although the American team remains committed to its ambitious long-term objectives. Cadillac has spent the opening half of the 2026 season building its operation from the ground up while attempting to become competitive against Formula 1’s established teams.
The new 11th team has predictably occupied positions near the back of the grid as it adapts to the intensely competitive environment of the championship. Its task has recently been complicated further by reliability problems, with Cadillac recording at least one non-finish in six of the past seven Grands Prix.
Cadillac’s F1 debut has delivered a demanding first test
Despite those setbacks, Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon expressed satisfaction with what the organisation has achieved during the first half of its inaugural campaign.
“The first half of the very first season of the Cadillac F1 team has been a big challenge, a very rewarding challenge for everyone involved,” Graeme Lowdon told RacingNews365.
“It is a huge task to bring a new team into F1. I’ve said this many times before: F1 is the greatest team game in the world. What makes it really unique is the fact that all of the teams are on the field of play at exactly the same time, so you are measured against the very, very best in the world.
“These are all incredibly experienced teams. The level of competition is incredibly high. In qualifying in Hungary, we were just a couple of tenths off Williams, and they’ve been doing this for a very long time.”
Cadillac’s comparison with Williams highlighted both the difficulty of its task and the progress already made. While its rivals can draw upon years or even decades of experience, the American operation has had to establish its staff, procedures, infrastructure and on-track programme from scratch.
Cadillac continues upgrading the MAC-26
Cadillac has introduced updates to the MAC-26 throughout the season as it attempts to move away from the bottom of the competitive order. Graeme Lowdon acknowledged, however, that progress in Formula 1 rarely produces lasting satisfaction because teams immediately begin searching for the next improvement.
“In terms of what we’ve achieved, F1 is cursed with the fact that you can never be happy,” Graeme Lowdon explained. “You always want more. You always want to improve.
“Every single thing that we look at, we know we want to improve in different areas, whether it’s the car, the way it performs, the way we operate our systems and everything else.
“But we have to start somewhere. Everybody in the team, personally, I think they’ve done an exceptional job to be where they are. I know everyone is really proud to carry the Cadillac name, and we want to move the team forward to where we think it can be.”
The comments underline the scale of Cadillac’s development challenge. Improving the performance of the MAC-26 is only one part of the project, with the team also refining its operational systems and learning how to execute complete Formula 1 weekends against much more experienced opposition.
Graeme Lowdon outlines Cadillac’s bold F1 ambition
Although Cadillac remains in the early stages of its Formula 1 journey, Graeme Lowdon stressed that the foundations are being laid for a considerably more competitive future. The team does not intend to remain at the back of the grid or participate merely to increase the number of cars in the championship.
“We’ve said many times before that we have a bold ambition for the team, and that’s not to be arrogant, but it’s to show that we want to bring something new into F1,” Graeme Lowdon said.
“We don’t just want to be here to make up the numbers. But we also have a very healthy respect for the challenge ahead, and we know that it takes time.
“You can’t fire a cannon from a canoe; you have to build foundations. You have to build strong foundations, and that’s really what we’re doing at the moment.”
Cadillac’s first half-season has demonstrated how difficult it is for a completely new organisation to establish itself in modern Formula 1. Reliability setbacks and limited performance have restricted its results, but Graeme Lowdon believes the work completed away from the spotlight will ultimately determine how far the team can progress.
The immediate objective remains improving the MAC-26 and reducing the number of race-ending technical problems. Cadillac’s larger ambition, however, is to build an operation capable of moving steadily through the field rather than simply surviving its debut season.
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