Cadillac Team Principal Graeme Lowdon has opened up about the challenges facing the team ahead of its Formula 1 debut in next season.
The 2026 regulations were brought into place by the FIA and the FOM with a view to promote closer racing and attract manufacturers into the paddock.
As things stand, it looks like both these targets en route to being achieved by the sport.
George Russell has already cast his vote of confidence in the new regulations with a promise of “better racing”.
And alongside Audi, entering the sport as an OEM for the very first time in its history, the General-Motors-backed Cadillac F1 project is also slated to enter the fray as the 11th team on the grid.
Lowdon, who has been handed the reins of the American entry, revealed just how difficult it has been get the project up and running and in trim for its imminent debut just a few months from now.
“In fact, we’ll fire up the engine for the first time in less than 50 days, and the car will run for the first time in January next year,” he said.
“After that, we’ll go testing at the end of January in Barcelona.”
Cadillac working hard on F1 debut despite tight margins
Cadillac will partner Ferrari for the first two years as a customer team with aims of transforming into a works outfit by 2028.
The team revealed its driver line-up of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, earlier this season, as it decided to put its faith in experience over youthful exuberance.
Perez, who now has documented Grand Prix winning credibility after his stint with Red Bull, was in Imola this week testing a blacked-out SF-23.
That said, while Lowdon has been slowly but surely checking off the boxes as Cadillac prepares for its debut at the Australian GP, next March, he stressed on how tight the margins have been for them given the team were only approved by the sport in early 2025.
“Time is the enemy in a project like this, because we know we’ll be racing in Melbourne the first week of March 2026, and that deadline can’t be extended,” he explained.
“There’s so much to do. Our entry was only confirmed in March 2025, so the margin is very tight.
“In that time, we must not only build the car but also manufacture it, design it, hire personnel, build the factories – everything. It’s a real challenge.”
READ MORE – Exclusive: Valtteri Bottas looks ahead to F1 return with Cadillac
Discussion about this post