Cadillac provide 'really cool' update on F1 car progress

Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon has revealed the American squad is "on schedule" with its production of the first cars Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez will race next season.

The General Motors-backed operation will make its F1 debut in the 2026 campaign, becoming the championship's 11th team.

Having developed and built a prototype to measure itself against the FIA's chassis homologation tests, Cadillac is now confident it will pass the real thing with its actual cars, which are being worked on currently.

"The good news is it [the new car] is coming along," Lowdon told Formula 1. "It's on schedule. We are currently laying up the first two race chassis.

"We built a prototype chassis some time ago, and we use that chassis to do all of the equivalent FIA homologation tests.

"So, there's some very onerous squeeze tests and also the rather dramatic impact tests, which is quite a significant test."

Cadillac's entry into F1 comes at the same point the championship is introducing sweeping changes to its chassis and power unit regulations, meaning the American squad wanted to be ahead of the curve to avoid any unnecessary - and costly - delays.

Whilst it does not have to worry to the same extent about the engine rules, as a Ferrari customer team until 2029, the project was acutely aware of not having been through the FIA homologation tests before, unlike its rivals.

Because of the regulations overhaul, there will be three pre-season tests next year, including a private one for just the teams, which will be the first time a Cadillac F1 car will be on circuit.

"We've already built the prototype, went through all those tests," Lowdon added. "We are probably the first team that has done as well, because obviously the other teams have got learnings from their '25 cars and '24 cars and everything.

"We wanted to do that to give ourselves confidence that when we're building the race chassis, we've got a high degree of confidence that we should pass the homologation tests.

"But now we're actually laying up the actual race chassis, and it's on schedule, and it's really cool to see."