Cadillac F1’s focus remains on the 2026 car with few more updates lined up in the second half, but the work on the 2027 car is also ongoing.
While Cadillac made the big step to field two cars since the winter test of F1 2026, the first half has been far from easy for the second American outfit on the grid. Despite the experience of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, the reliability issues have dampened their journey’s start.
They felt good with themselves not being last against Aston Martin at the onset of F1 2026, but with the other Silverstone-based team picking up pace via the big Hungary update, it has put Cadillac on the back bench, mainly due to its reliability issues, despite some good updates.
They replaced Graeme Lowdon with Marcin Budkowski as team principal in the summer, but the focus remains on improving the 2026 F1 car in the second half. TWG Motorsports’ Dan Towriss revealed that they still have few updates left to be added on the current season’s car.
Updates still to come in F1 2026 from Cadillac
They wish to extract more performance after improving reliability, but without compromising the efforts on the 2027 car. “We are still focusing on the 2026 car and the 2026 season and would expect to see additional upgrades coming still this year,” said Towriss to media in an online call.
“And then I think as we fix the teething issues and just continue to elevate performance, and even the progression from the factory to the track, the smoothest with how that goes, will bring performance gains throughout the weekend. So, we want to continue to perfect that.
“But like all the other teams, there’s a lot of work starting on the 2027 car as well. And so, we’re doing both. And it’s important that we continue to improve performance at the track, but also continue to build the foundations that are necessary to support the progress that we aspire to for the future,” summed up Towriss.
Reliability improvement big task for second half
When asked about the second half and what it intends to achieve, Towriss was quick to state improving reliability and adding performance on the car side. But from overall picture, they wish to continue to improve on building an organisation and fine tuning its communication.
“Yeah, so I think it’s reliability, performance, kind of process, organisation and culture,” continued Towriss. “And so, the reliability piece, I think Marcin (Budkowski) has spoken to quite a bit. Performance, really just continuing to enhance the team that we have, and every race, every weekend, things get tighter. The garage continues to operate at a higher level.
“The connectivity to the factory gets better. And so, as we continue to improve that, just that improvement alone will lead to performance gains. And so, that’s a real focus over the remainder of 2026. We do have additional upgrades that we’re looking at to bring to the track as well that won’t distract from the 2027 priorities.
“And then, a lot of the process and organisation, things at the factory that we talked about, that’ll continue to be a focus over the remaining half of 2026.” Wirth the change at the top by bringing in Budkowski, Towriss hopes to build on the new leadership and go distance with it.
Cadillac banks on new leadership to go distance
He is banking on the technical capabilities of Budkowski, which will be crucial for Cadillac to take the step in second half of F1 2026 into the 2027 season. “With leadership changes, as well as the evolution of this team, it’s going to be about culture,” he said.
“That’s communication, that’s leadership, it’s accountability, all the things we’ve talked about. But I think there’s an opportunity to bring all those things together and to raise the bar over the remaining, building momentum through the remaining half of 2026, through the back half of the season, which we hope will be a real springboard for us going into 2027. And so, those would be the priorities that I would lay out,” summed up Towrris.