Cadillac\u2019s Pat Symonds has opened up on the challenge of trying to create the first all-American-built F1 race winner of the modern era.<\/p>\n
Just two American-licenced F1 constructors have ever won a race in Formula 1, but the new Cadillac team is hoping to add to that statistic over the coming years.<\/p>\n
Pat Symonds explains how \u2018centre of gravity\u2019 will shift for Cadillac<\/p>\n
What started life as an Andretti-operated F1 team when Michael Andretti first lodged an expression of interest for a potential arrival onto the grid has evolved to become a General Motors-backed Cadillac factory team.<\/p>\n
Arriving on the grid in 2026, Cadillac will be run by team boss Graeme Lowdon and CEO Dan Towriss, whose TWG Motorsports operation will run the team on behalf of General Motors.<\/p>\n
Initially, the Cadillac F1 team will be a Ferrari customer team and run with power units out of Maranello, but the intent is to become a power unit manufacturer in its own right by 2029, creating a fully autonomous General Motors team in Formula 1.<\/p>\n
To get the team off the ground, Cadillac<\/a> will operate from several different facilities. Currently, the team operates out of GM facilities in Fishers, Indiana, where a brand-new facility is being built for manufacturing.<\/p>\n Separately, the power unit programme is being built into a brand-new facility near Charlotte, Concord, North Carolina, while GM\u2019s technical centre in Warren, Michigan, will also play a part in helping the team get off the ground.<\/p>\n In Europe, Cadillac will use Toyota\u2019s wind tunnel facility in Cologne, Germany, after agreeing a long-term rental contract with the Japanese manufacturer, while some key manufacturing and logistics will take place at a recently-acquired facility in an industrial park near Silverstone in the UK.<\/p>\n But the plan, explained by Cadillac executive engineering consultant Pat Symonds, is for the team to operate almost entirely out of its United States facilities within a few years<\/p>\n \u201cWe, of necessity, are building it out of the UK. It\u2019s where a lot of the sort of skill base is,\u201d Symonds explained on the\u00a0Autocar\u00a0podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cThe centre of gravity at the moment is Silverstone, certainly for chassis and for racing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe centre of gravity for the power unit, because we\u2019re doing our own power unit for 2029, is in Charlotte in North Carolina. So we\u2019re building a new factory there and, at the moment, working out of GM facilities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also have assistance from GM in Charlotte, who are doing, for example, our software; our simulator is based there, tyre science and things like that are based there. Then we\u2019re building an enormous factory just outside Indianapolis, 420,000 square feet, huge. That number sounds big, but when you actually go and look at it, you realise how big it is.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first time I went over there, I just couldn\u2019t believe the size.\u201d<\/p>\n F1\u2019s history counts against Cadillac, where America has yet to achieve any significant success. Aside from the Indianapolis 500, which featured on the F1 calendar through the 1950s despite a widespread lack of participation from the usual championship entrants, just two American-licenced constructors have ever won a grand prix.<\/p>\n The 1976 Austrian Grand Prix was won by John Watson in a Penske, while the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix was won by Dan Gurney\u2019s Anglo American Racers.<\/p>\n While Penske\u2019s win was under an American flag, the cars were built in Dorset in the UK, meaning Gurney\u2019s Eagle is the only American-built F1 car to have ever won a race.<\/p>\n Symonds explained that, within a few years, the intent is for almost all key manufacturing of Cadillac\u2019s F1 cars will happen out of its United States bases.<\/p>\n This differentiates the squad from fellow American team Haas, which arrived on the grid in 2016. Gene Haas\u2019 eponymous team does have a base in Kannapolis, North Carolina, but its own manufacturing takes place predominantly at a base in Banbury in the UK, while the chassis is manufactured by Italy\u2019s Dallara, and the power units are supplied by Ferrari.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll be more than an attempt, it\u2019ll be a reality,\u201d Symonds said of the switch to a focus on American engineering and manufacturing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea is to transition everything to the States. So, for example, a new simulator is going into the Indianapolis building.<\/p>\n \u201cIndianapolis will be doing most of the production that, at the moment, is in the sort of European supply chain. That will all move over to America, relatively soon. It\u2019s exciting. It\u2019s difficult. It\u2019s a challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a big difference now, you know? Formula 1 in America is big, and it wasn\u2019t. Our idea is to make Fishers, which is the place just outside Indianapolis where we\u2019re building the big factory, we want to make it a destination.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019ll be more than just a factory. It will be somewhere for F1 fans in North America to go. We\u2019ve got a huge amount of land there. We bought the hotel next to the factory and things like that.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we will leave in Silverstone\u2026 the idea is the concept design will remain in the UK for a fair while. What we have termed our rapid response manufacturing, so things like front wings and floors that you\u2019re changing race to race, we\u2019ll probably leave that in the UK.<\/p>\n \u201cManufacturing, we will move to America reasonably soon, always keeping a capability in the UK, and then, over a period of time, we\u2019ll start transitioning other parts.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I guess our next big decision is the wind tunnel, and to me, it only makes sense to build the wind tunnel in America.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, at the moment, we\u2019re using a wind tunnel in Germany. So, to me, the difference between going to Germany and going to America for wind tunnel testing is not actually a big deal.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re running a remote wind tunnel, you have to have a mission control, just like we do for races. So it doesn\u2019t matter whether it\u2019s in Germany or whether it\u2019s in America, and actually, the manufacturing will be in America.<\/p>\n \u201cSo in some ways, it\u2019s easier. Electricity, these things use a lot of electricity, and electricity is about a third of the price in the USA than it is in the UK. And that goes under the cost cap!\u201d<\/p>\n More on Cadillac from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n Cadillac F1 \u2018struggle\u2019 predicted as Bernie Collins makes Haas comparison<\/a><\/p>\n