Cadillac racks up important miles at the 2026 shakedown, but struggles with drive and electronics: its entry shows just how complex modern Formula 1 is
Formula 1 newcomer Cadillac is picking up speed at the 2026 shakedown in Barcelona, but ongoing technical problems keep setting the US team back. Cadillac driver Sergio Perez admitted as much after his team’s second test session.
Perez said: “There were more problems than surprises – problems with the drive, the car, some electronic issues. We are struggling with a few problems and, as a new team, we still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
The only positive thing is that these difficulties are already occurring now – during testing, before things get serious. Team boss Graeme Lowdon agrees: “People often forget how complex these cars are. They are incredibly complicated. And a typical team consists of around a thousand people. Building something like this takes time.” So he is asking for patience.
Cadillac completes first race distance in one day
Nevertheless, Cadillac already managed 210 kilometers on Monday at the start of the shakedown and 308 kilometers on Thursday, Cadillac’s second day of driving—more than a Grand Prix distance.
Perez subsequently spoke of a “much better day” on which his team had collected “a lot of data.” “I think we’re improving with every lap. We’re now starting to really explore the car: the setup and the directions we want to take.”
According to team boss Lowdon, however, this is nothing more than a ‘shakedown’: “Thursday was only the third real test day for our team. In that respect, I’m very happy with the progress we’ve made so far. We’re really learning something new with every lap.”
Lowdon has high hopes for the final day of the Formula 1 shakedown in Barcelona: “That’s 25 percent of our total track time so far.” It’s important to make the most of this time to get up to speed. “We’ll be taking a slightly different approach during the tests in Bahrain,” said Lowdon. However, the Cadillac team boss did not reveal what that approach would be.
