Cadillac: Ferrari PU and gearbox, but suspension will be built in-house
Graeme Lowdon, team principal of Cadillac, explained why the new Formula 1 team will not rely on Ferrari for its suspension system. He also outlined how the team is structuring itself to operate efficiently despite being divided between bases in the United Kingdom and the United States.
In December last year, Cadillac-GM confirmed that for its debut Formula 1 season in 2026, the team will compete using Ferrari power units. This arrangement is meant to serve as an interim solution while Cadillac develops its own power unit division, with the goal of eventually becoming a fully independent hybrid engine manufacturer.
The agreement between the two parties is multi-year, giving the American brand the necessary time to build the infrastructure that will ultimately produce future Cadillac Formula 1 engines.
According to the team’s plans, the in-house Cadillac engine should debut in 2028. This means that during its first two seasons, Cadillac will run with Ferrari power units, along with some gearbox components.
However, the team led by Graeme Lowdon has decided to stop there. Beyond the Ferrari engines and gearbox internals, no additional parts will arrive from Maranello. Cadillac has already started building its own gearbox casing and will also manufacture its own suspension and transmission, despite earlier indications that these might come from Ferrari as well.
“Unlike Ferrari’s other customer teams, who take the power unit, gearbox, and suspension, we will only use the power unit and the internal parts of the gearbox. We are designing and producing the gearbox casing ourselves, along with everything else. We are also developing our own suspension. Ultimately, we are establishing a true constructor team,” explained Graeme Lowdon.
He also noted the difference with Haas, the last team to join Formula 1: “The regulations were very different when Haas entered F1. At that time, a team could essentially take an almost complete car from another manufacturer. Now, the rules allow for much less. Of course, in theory, we could still buy suspension or other parts. But at some point, we must design our own components to match our ambitions. That is why we decided to take these steps right from the beginning.”
In terms of operations, Cadillac has set up in Silverstone, which will serve as its main logistical base but also as a hub for both aerodynamic and mechanical design. “We have a facility in Silverstone where we manage logistics, as well as design activities on the aerodynamic and mechanical side. Our headquarters, however, remain in the United States. We also use the wind tunnel in Cologne, and we have exclusive access to it,” Graeme Lowdon explained.
“Our aerodynamics department works from Silverstone. Many of the wind tunnel model parts are also made in England. At the same time, we are building a brand-new facility in Charlotte, fully dedicated to the development and production of our own power units, located right next to the GM Technical Center.”
Although such a structure may seem overly complex, Graeme Lowdon insisted the system is carefully organized: “It might sound complicated, but it really is not. We have structured the team to eliminate any barriers. There are no silos, no divisions between one site and another. The entire team operates as a single entity.”
He added that their inspiration came from NASA’s organizational methods: “We studied how NASA structured the Apollo missions. We learned a lot about managing large, technically focused groups where communication between engineers and specialists is maximized across different geographical locations. That is the model we followed when designing our own structure. So we function as a single team. Some teams have rooms and corridors. Our corridors are very long and stretch across the Atlantic. But our team still works as one entity,” Graeme Lowdon concluded.
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