If a car brand names itself after an adventurer, then at some point it will practically no longer be able to avoid Formula 1. Consequently, Cadillac, the luxury brand from the portfolio of the automobile giant General Motors, will be competing in the premier class from next year. In terms of daring, today’s venture is certainly similar to the conquests of its namesake, Antoine Laumet, in the North American provinces, who later founded the automobile metropolis of Detroit and called himself Sieur de Cadillac as a reminiscence of his home community in France. Today’s brave man is called Pat Symonds and operates as an “Executive Engineering Consultant”. means nothing other than that he has to make all his knowledge from almost half a century of top motorsport available to a racing team that was approved for Formula 1 just seven months ago. “What lies ahead is pretty scary,” says the 72-year-old Brit on the sidelines of the US Grand Prix this Sunday (9 p.m. CEST in the F.A.Z. live ticker for Formula 1 and on Sky). Symonds was once the key head of technology and strategy behind Michael Schumacher’s first world championship titles with Benetton. The newcomer from North America didn’t have it easy from the start. The Andretti family had been trying to gain a foothold in the premier class for several years, but the other ten teams only agreed to the idea when an automobile manufacturer, General Motors, officially backed the racing venture. Only then, according to the competition, would there be added value – if you had to share the prize money with one more racing team. Counting from the green light, there are only 364 days until the first practice session at the Australian Grand Prix next March. This is the start of a season in which Formula 1 is facing one of the biggest regulatory cuts in its history with half the switch to electric motors. Back from racing retirement Not exactly the best conditions for a newcomer who wants to operate mainly from the other side of the Atlantic. On the other hand, Formula 1 is currently experiencing a boom there, and anything that further binds the USA, which is still the world’s most important car market, to Grand Prix racing is most welcome. Given the short time available, it is unthinkable that a debutant would also develop a complex engine. Which is why Cadillac will run on borrowed engines from Ferrari until at least 2029. It’s practical that some have just become available because the previous leasing customer Sauber will be competing as an Audi factory team in the future. Cadillac apparently has no problem just labeling it, the attention value should be correspondingly high – assuming the first results are not too disastrous. Already right in the middle: Graeme Lowdon at the Formula 1 race in the USAAFPGetting enough people on board was extremely complicated. After all, the market for specialists is small and has become even smaller with a subsidiary like Audi as a rival. The Volkswagen brand is still looking for 300 to 500 people, Cadillac needs a lot more manpower. There had to be a lot of poaching from the established companies. “The biggest challenge is actually staffing levels,” admits Symonds, “we had 159 people working in our UK branch at the start of the year.” In the meantime, he calculates, the force has grown to 426 people. “It was really fast, but it was also very difficult,” says the technician. Old relationships probably helped a lot. Team boss Graeme Lowdon knows the lack of resources from his own painful experience: that’s why the entry of the Virgin racing team (later renamed Marussia and Manor), which he headed, failed at the beginning of the last decade. Accordingly, he was now stubborn and aggressive in his attempts to poach someone. At least these shouldn’t fail due to a lack of money. Behind the project called Cadillac are the two US billionaires Dan Towriss and Mark Walter with a powerful consortium. The salaries for the two veterans Valtteri Bottas (36 years old) and Sergio Pérez (35 years old), who have been brought back from racing retirement, also come from the rich portfolio. “2,500 years of Formula 1 experience.” Accordingly, Symonds’ expression is not as gloomy as it should actually correspond to the fear scenario he has put forward himself: “There are a whole lot of things with us that really have top quality.” According to his own assessment, this should also apply to the prototype of the racing car, which was built in parallel with the increase in personnel. After all, he has already designed around 40 Formula 1 cars. Building a whole team, however, is something completely different and there is no blueprint for it. The last newcomer to the motorsport Champions League to date was Haas in 2016, also a US team. A lot of dry runs are already being carried out in the racing factory in the state of North Carolina in the current season. In the control center there, the use of two of our own racing cars is simulated parallel to the data from real racing events. In keeping with the strict schedule of a real racing weekend, the approximately 60 employees of the later operations team have to come to the factory early in the morning and stay for briefings long after the end of the Grand Prix. In addition, as with pilots in a flight simulator, problems are constantly artificially built in.More on the subject “At the management level, we have 2,500 years of Formula 1 experience,” explains team boss Lowdon, “but it is the first time that these people are working together. And in Australia the high pressure will be a boring reality.” That’s why he’s trying to borrow a racing car from one of the existing teams for a test this year; Ferrari would be the most likely option. The world association FIA also has to agree to the unusual move, after all, test drives are not allowed during a season. It’s not about a technical advantage for Cadillac – it’s just about trying out all the processes on the racing object.Apple will broadcast Formula 1 in the USA in the futureApple is now really getting into Formula 1. After the Hollywood blockbuster “F1 – The Movie” with Oscar winner Brad Pitt, the tech giant secured the broadcast rights for the USA from next year. The contract initially runs for five years. It’s Formula 1’s next big step to further increase the racing series’ profile in the United States. There are already three Grand Prix on the season calendar, and next year Cadillac will be the second US racing team after Haas. The Apple contract with Formula 1 includes the broadcast of all free training, qualifications, sprint races and the respective Grand Prix – i.e. the full program. Everything will be shown on Apple TV. There should be no additional costs for subscription holders just for Formula 1, at least for the time being. Selected races and training sessions will also be available to watch freely via the Apple TV app. There was no information yet as to what these would be. (dpa)
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