Cadillac F1 team hit track for first time as 2026 car given debut in Silverstone shakedown ahead of pre-season testing

The new Cadillac team gave its first Formula 1 car a maiden track run in a shakedown at Silverstone on Friday.

Sergio Perez drove the car as the Mexican's team-mate Valtteri Bottas watched from the pit lane, with chief executive Dan Towriss also present for the landmark occasion.

The team posted a short video on social media of the car, shot at a distance, running down the pit straight at a damp Silverstone, before later sharing further imagery.

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Perez said: "Today was really an amazing day. Everyone should feel incredibly proud to complete our first laps as a team. Each and every person has worked so hard to get to this moment and it was emotional to be part of motorsport history.

"We can, and should, all enjoy, but it's absolutely fired me up for more. I just want to get back in and get mileage - this is just the start."

The General Motors-backed outfit's first challenger is powered by Ferrari engines, meaning the shakedown for filming purposes will have also been the first time the Italian manufacturer's new 2026 engine for F1's revised regulations will have run on track too.

Cadillac are the second team to complete a shakedown ahead of pre-season's first test - in Barcelona from January 26-30 - after the rebranded Audi team ran their new challenger at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last week.

Perez and Bottas form the team's vastly experienced first driver line-up, the race-winning veterans returning to the grid after each spending last year on the side-lines.

Earlier this week the American-owned team revealed the special testing livery its car will run in at the Barcelona test.

It is a largely bare carbon design which features the Cadillac logo spread over the rear of the car, while the names of founding members of the team are inscribed all over the chassis.

The team's final livery, which will be used at the final two testing events in Bahrain and for the 2026 season, is being revealed during the Super Bowl on February 8.

Cadillac have become F1's 11th team and are the first new entrant on the grid since Haas in 2016.

Lowdon pleased with Cadillac progress on 'emotional' day

Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon told Sky Sports News the landmark moment had been an "emotional" experience for the whole team after years of hard work.

"It was actually quite emotional," he said. "We're dealing with mechanical items here, but it is actually the embodiment of all of the hard work that's gone in from everyone.

"All those late nights and overnights and early mornings, both on this side of the Atlantic in the Silverstone facilities and across the Atlantic in Indianapolis and Charlotte, and all of our colleagues at General Motors and TWG.

"So, it was actually quite emotional. There was some real emotion from everyone, as it should be, because it's just a huge amount of hard work."

While he admitted Friday's running hadn't been without challenges, Lowdon said he was pleased on the whole with the progress that had been made.

"With a shakedown, in reality, you never plan too much, because there are just so many unknowns," he said. "It's the first time that the car has literally ever turned a wheel.

"But the main thing is we achieved the key things that we wanted to achieve, which was get out there, get some laps under our belts, start gathering some very valuable data, and start on this path towards racing in Melbourne, and that is literally just around the corner."

When is F1 pre-season testing?

The introduction of new regulations means there is a robust schedule of three separate testing events before the start of the 2026 season.

The first is a behind-closed-doors event in Barcelona from January 26-30, before two tests follow in Bahrain from February 11-13 and 18-20.

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When is the first F1 race?

The teams then have two weeks to prepare for the opening round of the season, which is the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne from March 6-8.

The first practice sessions of the season will take place on Friday 6 March, with Qualifying on Saturday 7 March and the opening race on Sunday 8 March.

Watch all 24 race weekends from the 2026 Formula 1 season live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - No contract, cancel anytime