(Motorsport-Total.com) – In less than two weeks, Cadillac will celebrate its Formula 1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix (complete 2026 race calendar). But even before that point, the US team (all details on the entry) already had to dig deep into its pockets, says Formula 1 reporter Will Buxton.
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“Let’s establish a foundation from the start,” says the Briton in the podcast Up to Speed. “They have already – and they haven’t even turned a wheel in racing yet – spent a billion dollars. It is assumed that they have invested that much up to this point. And that’s just to make it onto the grid at all.”
“And they don’t have a title sponsor,” Buxton adds. “So this is a massive undertaking – not just for Cadillac and General Motors, but also for TWG, Dan Towriss and the entire group behind the scenes building this team and getting it to the start. It’s a massive financial commitment.”
Why Cadillac has “no optimized strategy”
Unlike newcomer Audi, which took over an existing team including complete infrastructure with Sauber, Cadillac started with a blank sheet of paper. And apparently made a mistake in the process: because the team has its headquarters in Fishers, additional manufacturing in Charlotte and Warren, and a factory in Silverstone.
“I wonder how many of them will stay for the long term,” the well-known Formula 1 reporter says, referring to the logic of this distribution. “Having three locations is potentially not an optimized strategy for any team, let alone a brand new one.”
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“And I think there are two distinct issues in how Cadillac will fare as an American team,” Buxton believes. “One is the American work culture: there are no breaks. You work, you keep working, you literally work yourself into the ground. Family, what family? You work.”
Cadillac employees working almost without a break?
“But then there’s also the Formula 1 mentality: if you don’t like it, do something else. We’ll find someone younger and cheaper to do it, to take the job you don’t want to do or aren’t willing to do.”
In addition, the time difference is a problem. “If you are based in the UK, you work all day,” says the Briton. “After that, you have to work through most of the night because America is only just waking up at that point. So you get three hours of sleep – and the season hasn’t even started yet.”
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