In every way, the clock is marking Cadillac’s entry into Formula 1 next year.
In March, Cadillac, supported by General Motors and TWG Motorsports, received the final approval of Formula 1, expanding the network to 11 teams for the first time since 2016.
“As soon as we got the entrance, one of the things that changed is that they placed a countdown clock at the Silverstone factory,” said Dan Towriss, executive director of TWG Motorsports, in an interview in April. The company is a global Twg division, which has a sports portfolio that includes Chelsea Football Club and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers.
“We know exactly how many days to the engine they shot, how many days at the first race,” he said. “This is how we have to think about it because there is a lot of work to do between now and then. It moves faster than I want.”
Cadillac’s entrance began his life as Andretti Formula Racing two years ago. The FIA, the ruler of Formula 1, approved Michael Andretti’s proposal, the initial force behind the offer. A few months later, he was rejected by Formula 1.
In an interview a year ago with the New York Times, Andretti said he would fight. The past fall, step back as executive director of Andretti Global, owner of teams in Indycar, Formula E, Extreme E and Australian supercars. He decided “was time to pass the cane” to his business partner Towriss.
“From Michael’s point of view, he was very magnanimous in some ways,” said Towriss, who meets Andretti since 2017. “He didn’t want to interpose in the path of this project.
“It was a long process, a fiscal process, so he decided to get away. He was not asked to move away, he was not asked to leave. I think he saw that a level of acceptance was not there for him.”
Towriss said the movement “opened the door” with Formula 1. five months later, Stefano Domenicali, president and executive director of Formula 1, welcomed Cadillac.
With GM’s commitment to bring a Cadillac team, Domenicali said: “It was an important and positive demonstration of the evolution of our sport.”
Cadillac will become the second American car manufacturer to have a presence in sport. Ford will provide energy units to Red Bull, also from 2026.
Towriss is sad that Andretti resigned. “Simply a tremendous respect for what the family legacy is in motor sports, for him personally, for Mario and the family from that point of view,” he said, referring to Andretti’s father.
“My personal opinion is that everything felt a bit unfair to be pointed out in that way,” he said. “For your credit, at some point, you just have to accept the situation of what it is and move on. With your blessing, that is what we did.”
Throughout the process, the team did not stop. The workers were hired, and the facilities in Silverstone, England, opened a year ago to complement their headquarters near Indianapolis. The approval of Formula 1 has accelerated project growth.
Without an acceptance formula 1 guarantee, the company still had to commit. “It wasn’t for heart weak,” Towriss said.
“It takes a long time to build a formula team 1. I don’t think anyone on our side, or anyone who knows the sport, believes you can appear and in a short period of time, do that.
“If we had waited to the point where we were approved and then they said: ‘Great, now let’s start hiring people, let’s start building,’ we would be far from the races at that time.”
Towriss said Graeme Lowdon, a Formula 1 executive who advised the team, was a great seller to convince people to join the team. Lowdon was executive director of the now missing Manor Racing.
He had also been a consultant in the acquisition in 2020 of the Williams team Formula 1 of Dorilton Capital, a private investment firm whose headquarters is in New York City.
In December, Lowdon was announced as director of the Cadillac team. “At first, a large part of the Council was to tell you that they began to build the team now,” he said in an interview in April.
“Then my commitment changed because they said: ‘Ok, we are happy with all this advice. Now you are asking us to build a team. Can you go to advise to do it?’ I guess I must have gained their trust, and they must have had confidence in what I am doing because they then asked me to be the team director. “
He was offered the position did not come out of nowhere. “Even at our entrance, I was depressed as team director,” he said. “For two years, in our career license, and we have an American career license and an international career license, it is my photo about it. That was something that is expected quite early.”
Throughout the two years, Lowdon never doubted that the offer would fail. “There is absolutely no scenario in the land where you can prevent a perfectly good sports team from competing in a world championship,” he said, although there was a consequence.
“What worried me and stressed me greatly, and I have to say that it happened to me big, it was that it is one thing to say that it will definitely happen, it is another saying when.
“We completely respect the process. Our role was to answer questions, but there are only many of the things you can do. That was an unpleasant and greatly difficult period.”
The team has about 350 employees, with a 550 target at the end of the year. Pat Symonds, former technical director of Formula 1, has become the Executive Engineering consultant. And Nick Chester, once the technical director of Renault, is the technical director.
“I thought it was going to be very difficult to hire people, but it was much easier than I thought,” Lowdon said. “The reality is that we were very lucky. We were in a position in which many of the first discussions with key people who joined shared the vision.”
“The day our entry was confirmed, we wrote, with an outdated letter. It was not an email of ‘at-alall.
During the first three seasons, Cadillac will be driven by Ferrari engines until GM builds its power unit, which will debut in 2029.
Mark Reuss, president of GM, said in an interview in April that it was “a moment full of pride, a truly historical event for the entire company” when Formula 1 confirmed the entrance.
From 2026 to 2028, GM will technically support Cadillac, including aerodynamics, performance engineering and manufacturing as it accumulates to become “a clearly American team,” Reuss said.
He is aware of the challenge ahead. “GM and Cadillac have been at the forefront of the races and won in the Elite series for more than a century,” he said. “We do not underestimate the level of competence or the necessary level of commitment in F1”.
With nine months to the end until the first Cadillac/GM car arrives at the track in the preseason tests, the race is on, with the countdown clock providing a continuous update.
“The last time Dan was crossing,” Lowdon said, referring to Towriss, “he spoke with everyone in Silverstone, and finished his address saying:” As you can see on the wall, we have an x ​​number of days that remain, so we break. “
“Everyone knows what the mission is.”
