Cadillac brings new sidepods and floor to Austrian GP in bid to reach F1 midfield

Cadillac arrives at the Red Bull Ring this weekend with its most significant upgrade yet, fitting the MAC-26 with new sidepods and a revised floor as the American team pushes to close the gap to F1’s midfield pack.

Team principal Graeme Lowdon confirmed the scope of the work, describing it as “another substantial upgrade package” and acknowledging the logistical challenge of delivering new components across back-to-back race weekends, with Silverstone following immediately after Austria.

“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,” Lowdon said. “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.”

Cadillac’s development programme has been building momentum since the team entered F1 as an expected backmarker at the start of the season. An upgraded rear wing and exhaust arrived in Monaco, followed by further rear wing and cooling improvements in Barcelona, where Sergio Perez qualified just 1.9 seconds off the fastest Q1 time and beat both Aston Martins by 1.2 seconds.

Points proved elusive for Perez in Monaco’s chaotic race, and Barcelona brought a difficult weekend, but the Mexican driver is encouraged by the rate of progress. “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,” he said. “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.”

Lowdon struck a measured tone on Austria’s specific demands, noting the team is not underestimating the Red Bull Ring’s challenges but expressing confidence that further progress is achievable. The circuit’s high-speed layout and sensitivity to aerodynamic efficiency will provide an early test of how much the new floor and sidepod package has moved the MAC-26 forward.