'Axed' Ferrari star set to make F1 return with Cadillac

Former Ferrari F1 star Xavi Marcos is returning to F1, taking on a new role with Cadillac.

Marcos was previously the race engineer of Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, but was replaced in that role by Bryan Bozzi for the 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix onwards.

Marcos then opted to leave Ferrari and join Cadillac, but has spent the last year working on Cadillac's World Endurance Championship (WEC) and IMSA SportsCar Championship projects.

The Spaniard was confirmed as the new technical director for Cadillac's LMDh project in an official announcement last year.

Now, however, it appears that he is making a return to F1, instead switching his focus to Cadillac's 2026 F1 entry, with it being reported that he has been made the chief race engineer for the team.

Cadillac are joining the grid as the 11th team in the sport next year, with the American outfit at first using Ferrari power units before their entry is further cemented by a General Motors power unit partnership from 2028.

They have already confirmed that Carlo Pasetti and John Howard will act as drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez's race engineers respectively in 2025, and Marcos would sit above them as the chief race engineer.

How are Cadillac shaping up for 2026?

With 16 grands prix wins between them, Cadillac's driver lineup of Bottas and Perez is arguably one of the most experienced on the entire grid.

The pair are real coups for the new team, who had also been linked with significantly less experienced racers such as Mick Schumacher, Zhou Guanyu and Colton Herta.

Nevertheless, team principal Graeme Lowdon is under no illusion about how difficult it's going to be for the new team trying to break through in 2026.

Lowdon has said that he expects them to be running right at the very back of the pack in 2026, and that 2028 may be the earliest that their true potential is shown, when General Motors come on board.

In that sense, Cadillac are very much planning for the future, and the signing of young American racer Herta as a reserve driver is further proof of that.

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