F1 News: Backmarkers to bring 'substantial' upgrades to Austrian Grand Prix

Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez smile and wave at the fans at the Chinese GP — Photo: © IMAGO

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F1's backmarkers to bring 'substantial' upgrades to Austrian Grand Prix

The slowest F1 team on the grid are bringing the fight in Austria

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Wednesday 24 June 2026 18:15

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Cadillac F1 team principal Graeme Lowdon has revealed his excitement at what is set to be a serious step towards the midfield for the sport's newest team at the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend.

If it weren't for a farcical penalty at the Monaco Grand Prix (the less said about that entire ordeal the better), Cadillac would be ahead of Aston Martin seven races into the season.

That perhaps speaks more to the troubling 2026 that Adrian Newey's team has endured, but also shows that the American outfit must be doing something right in their first full season in the sport.

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Naturally though only points on the board will count at the end of the year and Cadillac know they need to start catching up with the midfield.

To do that, they need to win the development race.

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Cadillac set for serious Austrian GP upgrades

The race for upgrades has always been a crucial part of F1 but that is even more so in the first year of a new regulation cycle.

Which is why Cadillac will be cautiously excited heading into this weekend's race as they look set to wheel out a revamped MAC-26.

“The races now come along in rapid succession, and meeting that logistical element while improving our competitive performance is one of the key challenges of this part of the year,” Lowdon said.

“We are however pleased to be able to bring another substantial upgrade package this weekend. With new sidepods and floor it’s a significant amount of work and we hope that it will continue our trajectory of steadily catching-up to the midfield.

“We don’t underestimate the challenges Austria presents, but we’re learning all the time and I’m confident we can make progress again this weekend."

While the news will be exciting for Cadillac, the team will be all too aware that the upgrades will mean nothing if they can't get on top of their current gremlins.

Both Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas have had issues with brake failures, with the Finn admitting he got lucky that he wasn't involved in a serious accident at the Barcelona Grand Prix.

F1 Cadillac Austrian Grand Prix