Cadillac F1 arrives as a new team—and a long night’s work turns into a first lap in Melbourne

Cadillac F1 began its debut race weekend on Friday at the Australian Grand Prix with a simple objective that sounded almost modest for the world’s biggest motorsport stage: start racing. In Melbourne, that goal translated into something tangible—two cars on track at the same time for the first time, mechanics watching every sensor and every vibration, and a new team learning in public.

What happened on Cadillac F1’s first Friday in Australia?

Team Principal Graeme Lowdon called the opening day “very hectic, ” and the word fit the scene: a first-ever Grand Prix weekend, a first-ever chance to run two cars simultaneously, and a first-ever test of how a start-up operation responds when small failures appear at speed.

Cadillac’s Friday practice sessions in Melbourne were the first occasion where both Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez could run at the same time, after testing regulations had limited the team to one car at a time. The day brought early setbacks: each car lost wing mirrors during Free Practice 1. In second practice, Perez’s time on circuit was affected by issues on the car.

Lowdon framed those problems as part of the job. He said the team had upgrades at the track, ran through a programme, and—despite interruptions—gained mileage with both cars. “We lost a couple of wing mirrors, ” he said, adding that these are problems the team can “iron out and work on. ”

Why is this debut weekend more than a marketing moment?

Inside the team, the debut was treated less like a finish line and more like a starting signal. Lowdon urged a longer view, warning against seeing Melbourne as the ultimate destination. “It’s our first ever Grand Prix for Cadillac Formula 1 Team, so this isn’t our objective, ” he said. “Our objective is to start racing. ”

That perspective is echoed at the organizational level. Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports, described the first Grand Prix line-up as “a proud moment” while emphasizing the grind behind it: “In Formula 1, nothing is given. Everything is earned. This weekend is just the beginning. ”

The “beginning” has been described by team leadership as years of effort and restructuring, culminating in a fast-tracked process of building an organization from scratch, with a management overhaul and Michael Andretti’s exit preceding eventual acceptance. The car taking the grid is the Ferrari-powered MAC-26, named after Mario Andretti.

How are Bottas and Perez approaching life in a start-up team?

For Bottas and Perez, the debut weekend is also a reset: a return to the grid after absences in 2025 and the start of what both describe as a progress-first season. Bottas called the experience “quite unique, ” describing a rhythm of “hard work” and “problem-solving, ” while crediting the team for being ready for race one. “We’re on this journey and it’s only at the start now, ” he said.

On goals, Bottas kept the focus narrow and measurable: “Progress is the number one thing, we need to get better from the start to the end of the year. ” Perez aligned with that view, describing the early task as getting “the puzzle together, ” connecting departments, and developing fast enough to keep moving forward. “It’s not going to be easy, ” Perez said, “but for us it’s all about the progress we can make from here. ”

Lowdon’s own reading of the competitive picture was cautious. Even with Bottas classifying ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in first practice, Lowdon dismissed any temptation to draw big conclusions. “It’s FP1 and nobody knows really where they’re at, ” he said, adding that the team has “a grounded appreciation” of what it takes to build toward competitiveness.

What support and next steps did the team highlight?

Behind the garage doors, the debut is presented as a human project as much as an engineering one. Lowdon thanked not only the staff but also the families and partners supporting them—“the husbands, the wives, the boyfriends, the girlfriends”—calling that support “the rock that we build the team on. ”

He also underscored the pressure that comes with learning in public. “There’s nowhere to hide in Formula 1, ” Lowdon said, describing the intensity of running two cars for the first time in front of an audience counted in the hundreds of millions.

On the technical roadmap, Lowdon said the team brought first upgrades to the car for this weekend, while describing the broader mission as building long-term success. Towriss similarly cast the first race as an opening chapter rather than a verdict.

The weekend also carries meaning beyond the two F1 race seats. Colton Herta is set to make his debut at a Grand Prix weekend while contesting the first of 14 Formula 2 events, competing for Hitech TGR. Herta acts as a test and development driver for Cadillac, and his step into the support paddock adds another strand to the team’s wider effort to build capability and credibility over time.

By Friday’s end in Melbourne, the message from the pit wall and the cockpit sounded consistent: not a promise of immediate results, but an insistence on momentum. In a paddock where every weakness is exposed, Cadillac F1’s first weekend is being measured in laps completed, problems logged, and the quiet discipline of coming back out after something breaks.

Image caption (alt text): Cadillac F1 runs both cars during its debut Grand Prix weekend practice sessions in Melbourne.