On Friday, March 7, it was officially confirmed that a factory Cadillac team will make its Formula 1 debut in 2026, becoming the 11th participant in the world championship.
This is a joint project between General Motors and the American company TWG Motorsports, and work on it has been going on for several years now – if it weren’t for this, it would have been impossible to prepare for the debut, which is less than 11 months away.
“In terms of preparation for the races, everything is going according to schedule,” Graham Lowdon, who once managed the Marussia team and holds a similar position in the new project, said in an interview with the championship's official website. “We don't just want to come to Formula 1 and race – we want to perform at the highest possible competitive level.
From this point of view, of course, we would like to have more time and more people, because the larger the team, the higher the results can be achieved. But we understand that even the process itself requires colossal expenditures of energy and effort.
In terms of the production schedule, we are pleased with how things are going. We have spent a lot of time testing and checking individual chassis components, including nose cones and other elements.
There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes, although there is still a lot to do. But now that we have full recognition, we are in a much better position. We will have access to all the information that other teams have.
Now it's time to push ourselves and build the fastest car we can. The team already has a significant staff, we are in a very good position in this regard, and the preparations for 2026 continue.”
Loudon already has several hundred employees under his belt, including such respected technical specialists as Nick Chester and Pat Symonds, but the Cadillac F1 team will gradually increase.
“Formula 1 is a unique form of motorsport, so it’s really important that we have people like Chester and Symonds working with us who have such a depth of knowledge and experience,” Lowdon added. “A lot of the people in our team have worked together before in other teams. But what I’m really proud of is the team spirit that we’ve all had together. We’ve all been through a long process together, and it’s really allowed us to build a team where we all share the same values and the same goal…
There are two key positions that still need to be filled – the drivers, of course. Some have already contacted us and expressed interest in collaborating. Since our application has already been approved, signing contracts with the drivers is becoming one of the priorities…
As for the timeframe for its implementation, we have not set it yet, but of course we will announce everything when the time comes. Of course, we are going to select the drivers based on their achievements, but we do not see any reason why we should not invite American drivers. I believe that this is what many fans would like.
After all, Cadillac F1 is based in the US, and although we have a division in the UK, our headquarters are in America.”
It is worth adding that the Cadillac F1 team has already created official accounts on social networks, and the number of subscribers has increased significantly since yesterday.
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