Who are Cadillac? Meet the new F1 team looking to shake things up in 2026

Cadillac

Who are Cadillac? Meet the new F1 team looking to shake things up in 2026

Spotted an 11th team on the grid? You're not going crazy

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Thursday 5 March 2026 10:57

It's 2026 and there's some new kids of the F1 block. Say hello to the newest squad from the United States, Cadillac F1 Team.

For the first time since 2016, more than 10 teams and 20 drivers will lineup on the grid, with Cadillac finally making the American dream come true with their official entry.

Following a Super Bowl livery reveal, and three weeks of pre-season testing, Cadillac's preparation will finally culminate in Melbourne for their first grand prix as a fully fledged F1 team.

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But, who are Cadillac really? How did a division of General Motors wind their way onto the F1 grid? And the most important question of all, will they be any good?

Cadillac's background

Cadillac is the luxury vehicle division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors, best known for nostalgia inducing 50s/60s convertibles, but also retaining a contemporary audience in North America and China.

In 2023, GM and Michael Andretti-led Andretti Global announced their intent to pursue and F1 entry, where GM would be represented by the Cadillac brand.

The Andretti-GM bid was initially approved by the FIA, but the commercial rights holders F1 rejected the bid and decided the 11th team 'wouldn't add value'.

How Cadillac joined F1

In October 2024, Andretti stepped back from a direct leadership role of the Andretti Global team and passed control to Dan Towriss, who would become CEO of TWG Motorsports in February 2025.

Andretti remained as an advisor, while his father and 1978 F1 world champion, Mario, agreed to serve on the board of directors.

In November 2024 however, it was announced that F1 had reached an agreement in principle with General Motors to add an 11th team to the grid in 2026.

F1 had maintained dialogue with GM and its partners TWG Global and having achieved 'operational milestones' and committing to entering as an engine supplier at a later date, the bid was approved.

In March 2025, F1 officially approved the deal with GM for Cadillac to become the 11th team on the grid in 2026.

Since the beginning of their bid, Cadillac F1 team has facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Warren, Michigan and Silverstone, while GM build a power unit facility in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Cadillac F1 driver lineup

Cadillac's first F1 driver lineup draws from the experience of both Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, who return to the grid full-time for 2026.

Both drivers sat out the 2025 season after being dropped from Sauber and Red Bull respectively, and together bring a combined win tally of 16 victories.

However, Perez and Bottas are aware that their new team won't return them to race winning glory, and as a new team are ready to face the monumental project in front of them.

Bottas said ahead of 2026 pre-season testing: "I really enjoy everything so far with the team. Everyone is looking at things with fresh eyes, with a different angle. We have lots of experience from different teams, and everyone has been working so hard to be here.

"Starting from zero, it’s a bigger challenge than what the other teams had, I think. So I’m very proud of everyone so far and I’m enjoying it."

Zhou Guanyu has also joined Cadillac as their reserve driver, while IndyCar racer Colton Herta has made the switch to F2 this year and has been confirmed as their test driver.

Who works at Cadillac F1 team?

Former sporting director of Marussia, Graeme Lowdon, has stepped up to the plate as Cadillac's first team principal.

Cadillac have also cherry picked some of the biggest names from Enstone, with Pat Symonds hired as executive engineering consultant and Nick Chester as chief technical officer.

Speaking at the Autosport Business Exchange earlier this year, Lowdon said: "We'd set a target of hiring 525 people by December 31 2025. We thought that was the minimum you needed just to turn up.

"So we advertised 595 positions, we had and acknowledged 143,265 applications, it was unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable."

Which power unit will Cadillac use?

For their first year of competition, Cadillac will use Ferrari power units and have agreed to a deal to use their engines until they start producing their own.

General Motor's power unit is not expected to be ready until 2029.

How did Cadillac perform in testing?

Cadillac were expected to be bottom of the pack during pre-season testing in Barcelona and Bahrain, but thanks to the likes of Aston Martin, the new team did not fare the worst.

For Cadillac their main goal for 2026 isn't points, rather trying to be inside the 107 per cent rule and ensuring reliability.

Cadillac were not the slowest team to emerge from Bahrain testing, with Bottas and Perez finishing P19 and P20 respectively and above Aston Martin.

They also completed more laps than Aston Martin, 266 laps to the more experienced team's 128 laps.

Written by

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.

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