Cadillac today completed final track preparations ahead of its highly anticipated debut in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Taking to the Bahrain International Circuit for the final pre-season test, the American squad worked through a dense program to fully prepare for its race debut in Australia on March 8.
Across the three days, the driver duo of Checo Perez and Valtteri Bottas ran a comprehensive program designed to build the team’s mileage while also preparing for the challenges of a race weekend. The pair worked through multiple race and qualifying simulations, aerodynamic validation, systems checks and FIA procedures, which provided insightful feedback for the team’s operations for the upcoming season.
Checo and Valtteri racked up 280 laps, taking the team’s overall pre-season mileage to 3,247 km. With just 11 days of running under its belt, it now has more than 10 race distances to its name.
Looking ahead to its inaugural race at the Australian Grand Prix, the team leaves pre-season testing equipped to take another step in its milestone journey to the grid.
“We’ve had a really productive two weeks,” said Graeme Lowdon. “A few small issues here and there, just like any other Formula 1 team, but all in all we can be very happy with the progress that we’ve made. We’ve got a good baseline package that sets us up well for our first race in Melbourne. It’s a massive achievement to get to where we are now, and I’m extremely grateful and proud of everyone in the team for all their hard work.”
“I’ve really enjoyed this pre-season testing period,” added Sergio Perez. “The atmosphere in the team feels great, we are going in the right direction, we’ve got a good, balanced car and covered a lot of mileage. Every lap we are learning more and now it’s about developing and putting performance on. There’s always more to do, but I’m happy going into this short gap to Melbourne and excited to get back out on track in race mode.”
“Today we wrapped up pre-season testing after a productive two weeks in Bahrain,” added Valtteri Bottas. “We’ve continued to maximize our time spent out on track to better our understanding of the car, refine how we operate as a team and identify the areas we need to focus on. We’ll now look to review the valuable data gained as part of our final preparations ahead of the team’s first-ever race. Everything we’ve done so far has been building toward our debut. We can’t wait to finally go racing.”
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