Cadillac boss Graeme Lowdon has confirmed rumours regarding the team’s apparent push to obtain a historic Formula 1 car from Ferrari ahead of its 2026 debut.
Preparations for Cadillac’s first car turning in anger in January continue at pace, with confirmation that the current team simulated the Spanish Grand Prix.
Sergio Perez has ramped up the work at the team’s Silverstone base, completing extensive runs on the simulator to understand both data and car performance.
But with no car from the team allowed to hit the track until January, the team is very much stuck in the virtual world, unable to undertake practical preparation for its first race.
All teams are permitted to test one of their historic cars to evaluate younger drivers; however as a new entrant, this is not an avenue available to Cadillac.
Lowdon revealed at the Singapore Grand Prix that he is exploring options to change that in the coming months, though, citing the importance of real-world preparations.
“We’ve been looking at the testing a team can do under the TPC rules [testing of a previous car],” Lowdon said.
“We don’t have a previous car, but also the title is a slightly misnomer, because we don’t actually need to test a car, so it doesn’t really matter.
“Actually, current team testing is kind of what we’re interested in. We want to use a car, because in all of the simulations that we mentioned, we try and make it as real to life as possible.
“I think everyone gets a little bit wrongly concerned, that in some way we can get an advantage by testing someone else’s car or something.
“But we’re not testing the car, we’re testing the people.”
Lowdon and Cadillac ‘looking to gain the advantage’
Lowdon expanded on the need for a car to test, focusing on the need for mechanics to practice working in the pit lane and on the car, something not possible virtually.
“Yes, we are looking to gain the advantage, but not from anything to do with the car,” he continued.
“The advantages that we want is for our mechanics to have the same experience that all the mechanics in this pit lane are having every day working with each car.
“You have to get the mechanics used to that muscle memory of operating an F1 car.
“You have to be able to stick tyre blankets on, and then there’s just the size of a car and the heat that comes off one, and the presence that they have.
“I’ve been through this loop so many times in setting up a team, it’s really important to try and simulate and get as near as you can to everything.”
He confirmed Ferrari was the target of his search, but did not reveal if discussions had taken place, only that the FIA was involved in early consultation.
“We’re a [Ferrari] customer, so makes sense,” he acknowledged. “But as I say, we’re not trying to learn anything from the car itself.
“I really don’t really mind, as long as it’s kind of right size and shape. It’s just there to simulate, so I don’t even care what colour it is.
“If we borrow a car off somebody, then that team needs to get the FIA to approve that we could use their car.
“And we involve the FIA in everything we’re doing step-by-step, because we’ve got nothing to hide.”
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