Cadillac Brings ‘Substantial Upgrade Package’ to Austrian GP in Midfield Push

Cadillac Eyes Midfield Battle With Major Austria Upgrade for the Cadillac upgrade Austrian GP

The Cadillac Formula 1 team has revealed it is bringing another “substantial upgrade package” to this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix. The American outfit, making its debut season on the grid, has made a point of attacking the development race head-on and the updates arriving at the Red Bull Ring represent perhaps its boldest step yet.

New Sidepods and Floor Headline the Changes

The two main focal points of this upgrade are brand-new sidepods and a completely redesigned floor. For a brand-new constructor to completely overhaul the floor and sidepods this early into their debut season proves that the data coming out of their facilities is actually validating their wind tunnel work.

Team principal Graeme Lowdon acknowledged the logistical pressures of delivering such a package amid a busy stretch of the calendar, but was clear about the team’s ambitions:

“The races now come along in rapid succession, and meeting that logistical element while improving our competitive performance is one of the key challenges of this part of the year,” said Lowdon. “We are however pleased to be able to bring another substantial upgrade package this weekend. With new sidepods and floor, it’s a significant amount of work and we hope that it will continue our trajectory of steadily catching up to the midfield.”

A Season of Steady Progress

The new American team unsurprisingly started life in F1 as a backmarker but has been making inroads performance-wise, courtesy of consistent updates to the MAC-26. This included an upgraded rear wing and exhaust in Monaco, followed by further rear wing and cooling improvements at Barcelona, where Sergio Perez qualified just 1.9s down on the fastest Q1 time and outqualified the Aston Martins by 1.2s.

The pace improvements have been particularly notable given that Cadillac remains the only constructor yet to score a championship point seven rounds into the season. The team came close in Monaco, only for Perez’s opportunity to be effectively removed after a post-race penalty helped Fernando Alonso secure Aston Martin’s first point of 2026.

The team has been showing signs of improvement on recent weekends, appearing to move clear of Aston Martin on pace, although tyre wear remains a significant problem. Perez has identified tyre degradation as the key limitation of Cadillac’s 2026 car, particularly over longer race runs.

Perez Confident New Parts Will Make a Difference

Former Red Bull driver Sergio Perez has been bullish about the team’s development trajectory throughout the year, and has singled out Austria as a key milestone. Speaking ahead of the weekend, the Mexican driver said:

“Every race it feels that we’re making progress, and there was a lot of valuable learning in getting to the checkered flag in Barcelona. The rate of development is very good, everyone back at the factory is going full speed to deliver new parts to the track, and the upgrade we have this weekend will hopefully provide another step.”

Perez has been explicit about what success looks like this weekend: “We are bringing a big package for Austria. I hope that will bring us into the midfield group.”

The Bigger Picture: A Development Season for All

With this season being run to all new regulations, the campaign is very much a development race, with teams able to make a significant step forward if they bring a larger upgrade to the track than their rivals — something highlighted by Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton’s Spanish success. You can read more about that watershed moment in our F1 Barcelona GP Debrief.

Cadillac are not the only team arriving in Austria with hardware upgrades, Red Bull are also bringing a significant package to their home race. Cadillac is keeping up that pace going into the Red Bull Ring round, with Silverstone coming up next week.

With new sidepods, a revised floor, and growing momentum behind the MAC-26 project, all eyes will be on whether Cadillac can finally break into the midfield scrap at Austria and, crucially, open its points tally before the season reaches its mid-point at the British Grand Prix.