First look: Cadillac holds F1 2026 shakedown at Silverstone
Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez have signed for Cadillac
The new Cadillac F1 team held a shakedown of its F1 2026 car at Silverstone on Friday.
Cadillac is preparing for its first season in F1 2026, with the General Motors brand becoming the first new team to enter Formula 1 since fellow US outfit Haas in 2016.
Cadillac holds F1 2026 shakedown at Silverstone
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The team, which signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as its first-ever F1 driver lineup last August, will compete with customer Ferrari engines to begin with while its own power unit remains in development.
The new-look Audi squad became the first team to take to the track with its 2026 car in Barcelona last week.
And it has emerged that Cadillac has become the latest team to carry out a shakedown of its new car, with a private test held at Silverstone today.
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Zhou Guanyu, the team’s newly signed reserve driver, confirmed the outing with a short clip on Cadillac’s social media channels.
Zhou said: “We are here in Silverstone for the new season shakedown together with Cadillac F1 Team. Excitement.
“Shakedown is all about making sure the car is running and all the engineers are ticking all the boxes with the gearbox, engine, and also the setup work.
“For the driver, it’s all about are we happy, comfortable [with] the seat, the new seat, steering wheel, all the feedback and communication.
“So, looking forward to it and then more excitement for the season when it’s all starting.”
Cadillac posted footage of the car heading down the pit straight a short time later, making the on-track debut for a Cadillac Formula 1 car.
The clip was accompanied by the caption: “The first lap of something bigger.”
The team previously held a private test at Imola last November with Perez behind the wheel of a black-liveried 2023 Ferrari.
Cadillac revealed its F1 2026 testing livery earlier this week, with the team’s race livery set to be unveiled in an advert during the Super Bowl on February 8.
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