What are Cadillac’s chances of survival in F1? Especially considering they are starting from scratch rather than taking over an existing team like Audi with Sauber. – Adam
Cadillac – the luxury brand of US car giant General Motors – is entering F1 next year with a new team, in partnership with the US investment group TWG.
They have set up a team from scratch and will use a Ferrari customer engine until a bespoke GM engine is ready. GM has been accepted by the FIA as a power-unit supplier from 2029.
The media was given a tour of the Cadillac factory site at Silverstone last week by team principal Graeme Lowdon.
He said: “You will not see this team over-promising in any way. But we do want to convey the fact that the ambitions are really limitless, as they should be.”
Lowdon, who previously worked in F1 with Manor/Marussia, said the team were realistic about what they can achieve next year.
He said: “Can you imagine if you’ve owned a Formula 1 team for 10 years and then another team rocks up and beats you? You would be apoplectic. You would be so annoyed.
“And so you have to assume that any new team coming in is going to be last, otherwise, you know, what’s gone wrong somewhere else? We know how difficult it is.”
The team is currently spread over six units at Silverstone. This will be rationalised down to four, in addition to the main new TWG base being constructed in Fishers, Indianapolis, and due to be finished next year, and the GM engine plant in Charlotte, North Carolina.
To deal with this disparate set-up, Lowdon says they have developed a “very flat management structure, highly modelled on the Apollo project. We’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
He added: “Race teams are often described in military terms, organised in a kind of pyramid and you have one person at the top. And the typical military structure is command and control. So you issue commands, people do things.
“When it’s multi-site like this, that becomes a massive challenge. So instead, it’s a different structure where it’s mission control instead of command and control.
“Engineers are able to talk directly to each other. And the thing that’s heavily imparted on them is the mission itself.”
TWG and GM are massive companies and say they are in it for the long haul. Survival is not really the question. It’s how successful they can be and in what timeframe that is more the unknown.
