Will Buxton: Cadillac’s F1 project has already cost $1billion before a single race

Will Buxton says Cadillac's Formula 1 project has already become a $1billion undertaking as the American team looks forward to its first grand prix in Australia. 

Cadillac was approved to become F1's 11th team in March 2025, bringing the brand of General Motors into the championship which has, over the last few years, been rapidly expanding into the United States market. 

With its infrastructure spread across continents with its main headquarters in Fishers, Indiana, further manufacturing in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Warren, Michigan, plus a facility in Silverstone, United Kingdom, the F1 pundit believes this is creating unnecessary pressure points. 

Speaking on the Up to Speed podcast, Buxton highlights how the outfit has approached the series as a blank canvas, unlike the likes of Audi which has purchased an existing team. 

“Let's put a baseline on this right from the outset. They have already spent, and they haven't even turned a wheel in anger yet, $1billion," he said. "That is what they are believed to have spent up to this point. That's just to make it to the grid.

"And they don't have a title sponsor. So that is a huge undertaking not just for Cadillac and General Motors, for TWG, Dan Towriss, that whole group behind the scenes and launching this team. It's a massive financial undertaking."

Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac Racing

Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images

He continued, questioning how sustainable such a project could be. 

"I wonder how many of them will stay the course. Having three bases is potentially not an optimised strategy for any team, let alone a brand new team.

"And you have two distinct issues, I think, with the way in which Cadillac, as an American team will fare. One is the American work culture, which is that there is no time off. You work, you keep working, you grind yourself into the ground. Family, what family? You work.

"But you've also got the F1 mentality, which is: don't like it, go do something else because we'll find somebody younger and cheaper who will do it - do the job that you don't want to do or you aren't willing to do.

"If you're based in the UK, you're working all the way through the day. You've then got to work through most of the night because America is still to wake up to that point. So, you're getting three hours' sleep and the season hasn't even started."

This will be a huge uphill battle for the team, but with support from its experienced drivers in Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez and its cars being just three-tenths off during Bahrain testing, it's starting with a strong footing. It will at least be entering the year with more confidence than the struggling Aston Martin.