Cadillac F1 plans to start track tests before next year, even if it will not be possible to drive a car to the 2026 specifications by then.
Graeme Lowdon, team director, said they would find a way to start tests to allow team members to train with a racing car.
“We intend to test a racing car later this year, because we want the mechanics to be operational. We have seen our own eyes which can happen in the race, and everyone must be at the top of their shape.”
“We are going to get started with a project at some point, in order to make engineers work well and integrate the drivers.”
The F1 test rules have been hardened since the time when new commitments could carry out unlimited tests before their beginnings. When Toyota joined F1 in 2002, the team spent the previous year rolling a development chassis on different Grand Prix circuits around the world.
The FIA had initially approved the entry of Cadillac into F1 in October 2023 – when the project was born under the Andretti brand – but it was not until March of this year that Formula One Management definitively approved it. However, the team started working on the development of their car much earlier.
“We have pilots in the simulator since probably the end of the year to simulate the car, so everything is going very well on that side. The aerodynamic program is very advanced, so what we are missing is what you currently see on track, a concrete F1, but we get there.”
The team has already finalized a chassis with 2026 specifications, which it will use to continue its development program next year.
“The first 2026 chassis was delivered to our factory just a few weeks ago. It is a fully machined prototype, equipped with a safety arch, which looks like a centerpiece of a formula 1.”
“We will use this chassis to validate the various tests. The tests are very numerous, and the new regulations in force for 2026 makes them even more demanding.”
“I think what you have already seen in the six races of the 2025 season is that it is a complex sport where many things happen simultaneously. Many things can go wrong, changing, so gathering a 100% ready team is what I would call a long -term job.”
