Sergio Perez may firmly believe that Cadillac F1 is in a great place to secure points upon its debut during the 2026 racing season, but Williams team principal James Vowles argues that it’s going to take a while before any incoming outfit can be competitive.
According to the Williams head, Cadillac’s F1 entry is coming too quickly, and its expectations are incredibly high for an outfit being built from the ground-up.
Vowles rejects Sergio Perez’s Cadillac F1 hopes
Plenty of eyes have already turned to the incoming F1 2026 season, which promises to bring with it a major shake-up in the running order as a result of the sweeping regulatory changes that will transform both chassis and power unit, as well as the introduction of a brand-new team in the form of Cadillac F1.
The highly-anticipated American team will debut with an experienced line-up of drivers consisting of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, with IndyCar star Colton Herta getting his feet wet in the world of F1 as a test driver while also undertaking his first full season of Formula 2.
Cadillac will be the first new team to enter F1 since Haas joined in 2016, though this time around, the incoming team’s approach is very different.
Whereas Haas found its footing as a customer team purchasing major components from other brands, Cadillac intends to build both its chassis and ultimately its power units in-house following an introductory period as a Ferrari customer.
More F1 analysis from PlanetF1.com:
👉 F1 uncovered: Hidden details from the Azerbaijan GP exposed
👉 The biggest gaps overturned in modern F1 history shows the improbable task for Verstappen
Cadillac’s approval came after a lengthy negotiation process with the FIA and Formula One Management (FOM). The FIA approved the team’s initial entry under the Andretti Global guise, but the FOM rejected it, only offering provisional approval after the Cadillac name came to play a greater role.
The team was also required to pay a hefty anti-dilution fee to existing teams. In F1, teams all split an existing pool of prize money; a new team necessarily means a smaller slice of the pie for the current field. The anti-dilution fee is in many ways Cadillac’s way of expressing both goodwill and of easing that financial burden.
But not everyone has been particularly pleased with the idea — amongst them Williams team principal James Vowles.
In a recent conversation with the Business of Sport podcast, the team boss admitted that he’s skeptical of Cadillac’s ability to perform right out of the gate, as well as with the FIA and FOM’s decision to introduce a new team before the existing outfits were in a better financial situation.
“The bits I said publicly on it were what we spoke about our loss, you know what our losses are,” Vowles said.
“Let’s get to the point where this sport is survivable, where you have 10 teams making at least break-even.
“I’m not talking profit, just break even. And that was my ask.
“I think it’s a bit early to bring them in. I think Cadillac, on the converse, is a strong brand and a good brand to bring in.”
But a strong brand does not necessarily mean a competitive team.
Vowles continued, “As a result, they’re going to struggle, though. That’s my belief of it. It is hard now in modern-day Formula 1 to be competitive.”
Vowles certainly has a point, particularly in 2025. The margins between the most and least competitive teams are slim. While those margins are likely to grow with the introduction of a new ruleset, Cadillac will be attempting to compete with brands that have been in the sport for at least a decade.
That pessimism from the Williams boss is in direct contrast to the positivity on display by incoming driver Sergio Perez.
The Mexican driver joined media ahead of an appearance at the Dodger Stadium, where he threw the ceremonial first pitch in a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies, where he expressed his confidence in the team’s ability to compete right out of the gate.
“The goal is to arrive ready as a team for the first race,” Perez said, referencing the 2026 Australian Grand Prix that is a mere six months away.
“If we achieve that, I believe the potential is immense. A year of Formula 1 means lots of races; we’ll evolve.
“In the meantime, we need to be a solid team. I’m sure we’re going to surprise and that we can win points early in the season.”
Scoring points — or, finishing in the top 10 of what will be a 22-car field — may seem like a minor ask, but it can be far more challenging than expected.
Haas F1 was able to score points on debut back in 2016 with Romain Grosjean, but the world of F1 has evolved dramatically since then, and the conditions of Haas’ entry were very different. That team entered the sport in the midst of a regulatory set, allowing it to see how other teams imagined their racing machines as it pieced together its own car.
Cadillac, by contrast, will be attempting to clear two hurdles at once: Debuting in F1 and developing a brand-new machine alongside more experienced outfits like Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull.
Read next: F1 pundit confirms worst-kept secret as long-awaited test debut made official