TEAM PREVIEW: Cadillac – All you need to know about the team ahead of the 2026 F1 season

Alongside the introduction of new technical regulations, another incoming change for the 2026 campaign will see an 11th team arrive on the grid – that being Cadillac, the American outfit backed by TWG Motorsports and General Motors. How will the sport’s newest name perform in their maiden season? Here’s everything you need to know about the latest squad to join the F1 paddock…

Drivers for 2026

Valtteri Bottas #77: 10 Grand Prix wins, 67 podiums, 1797 points, 246 starts Sergio Perez #11: 6 Grand Prix wins, 39 podiums, 1638 points, 281 starts

Cadillac might be a new team, but the squad have opted for experience in terms of their driver line-up, recruiting two veteran drivers who each spent a year on the sidelines in 2025.

Valtteri Bottas makes his return to the grid, having been left without a full-time seat following his exit from Kick Sauber at the close of 2024. The Finn went on to act as a reserve driver for Mercedes – with whom he previously raced between 2017 and 2021, scoring 10 wins along the way – and will be looking to use that experience going forward.

On the other side of the garage, Sergio Perez is also making a comeback after parting ways with Red Bull following the 2024 season. Like his new team mate, the Mexican is a veteran of the sport, with a career-best P2 finish in the 2023 championship amongst the accolades to his name.

How did Cadillac do in 2025?

This is a question that requires a slightly different answer to their contemporaries, given that Cadillac were not yet on the grid in 2025. Instead the team were busy preparing for their debut, with their entry into the sport receiving its final approval last March.

A key milestone came in August when – after much speculation – the squad’s driver line-up of Bottas and Perez was confirmed. They soon went on to add further names to their roster, including the appointment of former IndyCar racer Colton Herta as a test driver.

Pietro Fittipaldi was named as a development driver in October, and will be joined by fellow simulator drivers Simon Pagenaud and Charlie Eastwood. Zhou Guanyu, meanwhile, signed up as a reserve driver in January 2026.

Cadillac also confirmed in December the plans for their first-ever livery reveal, which will be shown during a television advert at the Super Bowl on February 8.

History

While Cadillac might be new in Formula 1, the name brings with it an extensive history as one of the most recognisable automotive names heralding from the United States. Established in 1902, the brand – a division of General Motors (GM) – became known for their luxury vehicles throughout the 20th century.

In terms of motorsport, Cadillac participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans as far back as the 1950s before making a return to the event in the early 2000s, running the Northstar LMP cars between 2000 and 2002.

The manufacturer has since gone on to win titles across various categories, including the World Challenge GT Championship, the Pirelli World Challenge GT class and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with the company still competing in the latter. Cadillac have also branched out into the World Endurance Championship in recent years.

In November 2024, Formula 1 announced that it had reached an agreement in principle with General Motors (GM) to support bringing GM/Cadillac to the grid in 2026. The final approval followed in March 2025, setting in motion the steps mentioned in the section above to ready the squad for their arrival in 2026.

Greatest achievement

With Cadillac having yet to hit the track, the team have a blank slate going forward – meaning that there is not yet a racing achievement to base this section on. However, it could be argued that perhaps one of the strongest aspects of their early days off the circuit has been the recruitment of some veteran names to the project.

Team Principal Graeme Lowdon has experience of working with a new team, having headed the Marussia/Manor outfit when they first arrived in the sport, while the outfit’s driver pairing of Bottas and Perez hold a shared total of 527 Grand Prix starts between them.

Along with the addition of reserve Zhou and a line-up of development drivers including Fittipaldi, Cadillac have seemingly ticked off their target of wanting – as Lowdon stated recently – an “emphasis on experience and driver experience”.

One key goal for 2026

Those involved with the Cadillac project have avoided setting lofty goals for their maiden season; indeed, most have acknowledged the scale of the challenge ahead, with Bottas stating that the squad “need to be realistic” and “mentally prepare for the worst” at the start.

However, the Finn added that “the sky's the limit” for the team in the long-run, a sentiment that Lowdon echoed when he stated recently: “We're racing against teams where the youngest team on the grid has still a decade of Formula 1 racing experience or so, so I think that should set some expectation. But what we want to do is execute the things that we can control as well as we possibly can and measure ourselves against that.

“And if we do that, we know that over time, we will build what we all want, which is a very competitive Formula 1 team. But to coin the American phrase, it's not our first rodeo for anyone involved, and so we have a huge respect for the task ahead.

“It's super, super difficult, but we focus on what we can control and what we can do. Work as hard as we can and, the harder we work, hopefully the more competitive we become.”