How Cadillac completed the Italian Grand Prix without even being on the grid

The incoming Cadillac F1 team staged a full simulation of last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza, it has emerged.

It comes as the American team steps up preparations for its debut season in F1 2026.

Cadillac F1 team completes Italian Grand Prix simulation ahead of F1 2026 debut

Cadillac will become the 11th team on the grid next season as the first brand-new new team to arrive in Formula 1 since fellow American squad Haas in 2016.

The team recently reached a significant milestone in the countdown for F1 2026 when Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez were confirmed as the team’s race drivers after months of speculation.

Cadillac has since added Colton Herta to its ranks as a test driver, with the outgoing IndyCar star expected to compete in the F2 feeder series next year as he bids to obtain an F1 superlicence.

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It emerged earlier this year that Cadillac has been carrying out simulations of entire F1 race weekends during the 2025 season to prepare for its maiden campaign, including media engagements, seat fits for drivers and strategy meetings.

Its latest simulation took place over the Italian Grand Prix weekend with Cadillac staff working remotely from its two headquarters at Silverstone in the United Kingdom and Charlotte in the United States.

Cadillac posted a series of mission control-style images to social media as the Italian Grand Prix began on Sunday.

In the accompanying caption, the team wrote: “Looks like Silverstone & Charlotte. Feels like Monza. Simulating a weekend in preparation for 2026.”

It is unclear if Bottas and Perez has any involvement in Cadillac’s simulation of the Italian Grand Prix weekend.

Bottas was on site at Monza in his capacity as Mercedes’ reserve driver, which he will continue to fulfil until the end of the 2024 season.

Perez, who vacated his seat with Red Bull at the end of last year, has no pre-existing ties to a current F1 team.

The Mexican made his first public appearance since his F1 comeback was confirmed in the hours after the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, attending the US Open tennis final in New York.

Speaking after Bottas and Perez were announced as Cadillac drivers last month, team principal Graeme Lowdon confirmed the team’s plans to carry out a full simulation of the Italian Grand Prix to accelerate the learning process on the approach to its 2026 debut.

Lowdon also revealed that the team intends to hold real-life tests with an F1 car – expected to be conducted with engine supplier Ferrari – before the end of 2025.

He told PlanetF1.com’s Mat Coch and other publications: “The work with the drivers starts immediately. Obviously, Valtteri has got commitments to Mercedes, which are ongoing.

“And that’s a bit different with with Checo, but as a team as well, we don’t have a car.

“We don’t have a TPC car or a current car that we can operate, but we are already simulating race events.

“The next one that we’re doing is Monza and we simulate it as if it is a complete race weekend from start to finish, with full integration of everybody in the team.

“From Thursday all the way through to Sunday, we’ve got a very clear plan in our buildup to Melbourne next year.

“And it doesn’t involve just simulating races, which is really, really important.

“The last one we simulated, we probably had 50 or 60 engineering people fully involved over the whole weekend, both in the UK and the US all getting used to working with each other.

“We need to be in a position that when we get to Melbourne, we’re not in a position where people are hearing voices for the first time, or working with each other for the first time, or anything else like that.

“Similarly, there’s the simulator program, which is operating at full strength at the minute.

“We’ll be introducing car testing as well this year. Obviously, we have to work with others to be able to do that, but that’s perfectly allowable under the under the regulations.

“We just have a plan to steadily build up so that when we get to Melbourne, we hit the ground running.”

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