The good, the bad and the ugly from Cadillac’s F1 debut

For the first time since 2016, Formula 1 has a new team this season. Cadillac’s Formula 1 entry was finally accepted on 25 November 2024, boosted by General Motors’ backing and the American constructor’s pledge to become a power unit manufacturer in 2029.

The team is based across four locations in the United States and the United Kingdom, with its main headquarters in Fishers, Indiana, while its European hub is located in Silverstone; it is led by a number of Formula 1 veterans, including former Virgin/Marussia/Manor team boss Graeme Lowdon and former Renault F1 technical directors Rob White and Nick Chester.

Cadillac also banked on experience when it came to the driver lineup, picking two of the most seasoned F1 racers in history: Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. Together, they have taken a whopping 106 podium finishes – as many as Alain Prost and Fernando Alonso each managed.

So far, it has been a point-less debut for Cadillac, with a high of 13th under the chequered flag for Bottas in China, but it’s not all dark and gloomy for the start-up.

The good: Cadillac is a match for Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing, Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac Racing

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

Ahead of the 2026 season, Cadillac was widely expected to prop up the field. It just made sense; never has the level been so high in the world championship, so a new outfit wasn’t expected to waltz into the midfield.

But Cadillac has found a rival in Aston Martin after all, though this is largely down to the latter’s well-documented downfall, more than the American team’s solid debut.

Still, Cadillac seems to be improving quicker. The data sample is small, but the MAC-26 was 0.6s slower than the AMR26 in Melbourne, 0.2s slower at Shanghai, and 0.4s faster at Suzuka, as far as one-lap pace is concerned.

That progress is also visible, to a lesser extent, relative to the front. Cadillac’s fastest times equated to 103.9% of the Q1 benchmark in Australia, 102.4% in China and 102.5% in Japan.

“I feel we've gained a bit of load, a bit of stability,” Bottas commented regarding the team's modest Japan update, a slightly reprofiled diffuser. “It worked as expected. We gained a bit of load, especially on the rear end, and hopefully a bigger step in Miami. We're still lacking a lot compared to the top teams, but at least the direction is right.”

The bad: Some reliability niggles

Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac Racing

Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images

Technical gremlins are to be expected for a new outfit, regardless of Cadillac’s experienced staff and decent facilities.

Fuel system issues occurred on three occasions in Australia and China, taking Bottas out of the season opener, but the Suzuka weekend was largely trouble-free. In the end, Cadillac has accrued more race mileage than five of the rival teams across the opening three grands prix, which is encouraging.

The team also needs to sort recurring energy deployment issues, which have been costly in terms of lap time. “I'm losing around three [tenths] to half a second every single lap that I've done so far on the weekend,” Perez lamented after qualifying at Suzuka.

The ugly: The midfield is out of reach (for now)

Alexander Albon, Williams, Sergio Perez, Cadillac Racing

Photo by: Lars Baron / LAT Images via Getty Images

Let’s face it: Cadillac has little chance of joining the midfield anytime soon. Its deficit to the Q2 cutoff time has been a consistent 1.3 seconds.

Cadillac has the largest margin for development, as its car concept was signed off earlier than its rivals’ to make sure it met all deadlines, so it is somewhat more basic. The car mostly lacks rear downforce, which impacts its ability to use a wide range of set-up options.

Cadillac has therefore planned consistent upgrades throughout the season, especially early on, as it attempts to catch up with the competition.

“It has been very promising, but on the other hand, we also look at the lap times and we can see that we need to develop,” Perez said. “Develop means outdeveloping our rivals, which is quite a hard thing to do in Formula 1. That's the biggest challenge that Cadillac as a team faces, because these teams have been here for a while.

“We really need our A-game, and now is the time where we all have to prove that we can do it as a team. But I believe that we have a good structure, the team is in a good place, and hopefully when we start to develop, we can make significant steps. We all want to see massive progress, and we want to start closing up the gap right now.”