Cadillac will give its first Method 1 automotive a maiden run earlier than the Barcelona pre-season check, which is going down from 26-30 January, offered every thing goes to plan.
Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas’ Ferrari-powered machine is ready for an preliminary engine fire-up “in lower than 50 days”, group principal Graeme Lowdon mentioned on Friday on the Brazil Grand Prix – in different phrases, earlier than Christmas.
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The automotive’s first monitor check – probably a shakedown sanctioned by the ‘Promotional Occasion’ rules – is scheduled for January. Cadillac may then cowl as much as 200km with its new equipment.
“The whole lot is on schedule,” Lowdon mentioned. “In truth, we’ll hearth up the engine for the primary time in lower than 50 days, and the automotive will run for the primary time in January subsequent yr. After that, we’ll go testing on the finish of January in Barcelona.”
The Briton did acknowledge that assembly all deadlines could be no straightforward feat for Cadillac, with the group’s preparations effectively below approach at its US and UK bases.
“Time is the enemy in a venture like this, as a result of we all know we’ll be racing in Melbourne the primary week of March 2026, and that deadline can’t be prolonged,” Lowdon added.
Graeme Lowdon, Staff Principal of Cadillac Method 1 Staff
Photograph by: Zak Mauger / LAT Pictures through Getty Pictures
“There’s a lot to do. Our entry was solely confirmed in March 2025, so the margin may be very tight. In that point, we should not solely construct the automotive but in addition manufacture it, design it, rent personnel, construct the factories – every thing. It’s an actual problem.”
Initiated as Andretti, the Cadillac venture took years to be green-lighted by each the FIA and F1, and the group’s debut finally ends up coinciding with subsequent yr’s main technical overhaul in rules – which Lowdon says “there are execs and cons” about.
“The draw back is that when the foundations are steady, you clearly know what your goal is, as a result of at this time, for instance, we all know McLaren is aggressive, and so is Ferrari,” he defined. “However for 2026, nobody is aware of who shall be quick. The drawback is that you just don’t have a transparent reference level, however effectively, that is sport, and that’s what retains the followers engaged.
“The benefit for us is that with this main regulation change, all groups face a brand new problem, together with ours. Nobody is aware of the place they’ll be. If you happen to ask any group principal, they gained’t know both. That’s the thrilling half: we don’t know the place we’ll be.
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“Our problem is greater than the others as a result of now we have to do rather more in a shorter time. Now we have 1000’s of mixed years of F1 expertise among the many workers, however lower than a yr working collectively as a group.
“That would be the first problem – to make the group function easily. And after that, irrespective of the place we begin, the essential factor shall be how shortly we will enhance. That shall be our focus.
“So total, I feel it’s a bonus to enter throughout a rule change.”
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