- NEW PLAN SHORTENS CADILLAC HOPE FOR 2026…
Cadillac will debut on the F1 grid in the 2026 season after General Motors agreed to sign up for the new regulations, but their arrival next year has now got even harder.
After Andretti failed to persuade Formula 1 to let them join the party with GM’s backing, the American automotive giant took over and secured its Cadillac brand a place on the 2026 grid this March. General Motors is also working on building a factory engine for Cadillac by 2029.
Cadillac are now hard at work at their Silverstone base designing the brand’s first car for the 2026 F1 regulations, for which they will use Ferrari engines. Team principal Graeme Lowdon and engineering consultant Pat Symonds oversee a team of nearly 300 employees currently.
Formula 1 is about to introduce arguably its biggest overhaul of the chassis and engine rules ever next year. In the series’ quest to have power units with a 50/50 split between electrical and combustion energy, F1 had to also introduce active aerodynamics with the 2026 ruleset.
Engine manufacturers, of which there will be Audi, Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and Honda in 2026, have even had to build power units that no longer feature an MGU-H and that can run on 100% sustainable fuels. Audi has taken over Sauber to also debut in the 2026 F1 season.
Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon and engineering consultant Pat Symonds in the 2025 F1 Miami Grand Prix paddock
Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
F1 plans a five-day pre-season test in Barcelona to help teams prepare for the 2026 regulations
Now, in a move to help the 11 teams that will line up on the grid next year with the 2026 F1 regulations, RacingNews365 reports that Formula 1 is even planning three pre-season tests. The first test is expected to be held in Barcelona, followed by two three-day tests in Bahrain.
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F1 intends to visit the now-former home of the Spanish Grand Prix, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, from Monday, January 26 to Friday 30. While the Montmelo venue will be on the 2026 calendar as the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, the Spanish GP will be held in Madrid.
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Given the test will be at the height of the European winter, F1 has arranged for Barcelona to stage a five-day event where teams can only take part in a total of three days. Temperatures can be 3° to 14° in Montmelo in January, and snow also met the 2018 pre-season test there.
The second and third 2026 pre-season tests are set to be staged at the home of the Bahrain Grand Prix from Wednesday, February 11 to Friday 13 and then Wednesday, February 18 to Friday 20. These tests will be open, with unrestricted mileage across the combined six days.
Formula 1’s Barcelona 2026 pre-season test plans put Cadillac at a serious disadvantage
However, while F1 intends to hold the first 2026 pre-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya at the end of January to help the 11 teams prepare for the new regulations, it also puts Cadillac at a serious disadvantage compared to their established rivals – including Audi.
Formula 1 only confirmed that Cadillac had secured a spot on the 2026 grid back on March 7 of this year. It thus gave the General Motors brand precisely 12 months until the first race of the 2026 season at the Australian Grand Prix, with F1 returning to Melbourne on March 6-8.
Pre-season testing was also due to take at least one of those 12 months away, but that now drops to just 10 months with Barcelona holding a test in January. It is also the latest instance of F1 putting Cadillac on the back foot after how the series went about finalising their place.
According to Auto Motor und Sport, F1 only approved General Motors’ application to enter with its Cadillac brand as long as the American automotive giant fully committed to joining the grid in 2026. F1 saw it as a test of whether GM really wanted Cadillac to join the series.
But Cadillac have since completed their initial stress and crash tests with a test monocoque under Symonds’ watch at their Silverstone base. Symonds and Lowdon are now working on ensuring Cadillac have most components ready two months early to avoid any late shocks.
