Meet the Key Figures Driving the Cadillac Formula 1 Team

In August 2025, Cadillac officially announced its first driver lineup, beginning the reveal of the people responsible for turning the brand into Formula 1’s newest constructor. Backed by General Motors and TWG Motorsports, the team will make its debut in 2026. They will use Ferrari power units initially while GM builds its own hybrid engines.

Here's a closer look at the Drivers, Owners, Directors, and Technical leaders who will shape the team’s direction.

Drivers

Valtteri Bottas

Racing Driver
Teams: Williams, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, Sauber

On August 26, 2025, Cadillac announced that Valtteri Bottas will lead its driver lineup for the 2026 season. Bottas, a 10-time Grand Prix winner and former vice-champion, described joining Cadillac as a “long-term vision” and noted the opportunity to build a new team from the ground up. He praised the team’s professionalism and ambition. According to Cadillac’s announcement, Bottas has 246 race starts, 67 podiums, and 20 pole positions, with a best championship finish of second in 2019 and 2020.

Sergio “Checo” Pérez

Racing Driver

Teams: Sauber, McLaren, Force India, Racing Point, Red Bull

Cadillac’s second race seat will be filled by Sergio “Checo” Pérez, who brings six Grand Prix victories and 39 podiums. Pérez said he was drawn to the challenge of building a new team and believes Cadillac can surprise as a newcomer. He emphasized the importance of assembling a strong organization to compete with established teams. Cadillac highlighted that Pérez has 281 race starts, six wins, and 12 fastest laps in F1.

Colton Herta

Test Driver

IndyCar star Colton Herta will serve as Cadillac’s test driver. He had long been linked to the team as a potential race driver, but on September 3, 2025, he agreed to a test role while Bottas and Pérez lead the 2026 campaign. The team values Herta’s experience with Andretti’s IndyCar and Formula E programs and sees him as a long-term prospect.

Ownership and Leadership

Mark Walter

Co-founder & CEO of Guggenheim Capital.

TWG Motorsports (Ownership Group) The new Cadillac F1 entry is owned by TWG Motorsports, a racing division of TWG Global. TWG Global is the investment firm of Mark Walter, co-founder and chief executive of Guggenheim Capital. Through TWG Global, the Walter family already has investments in major sports teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chelsea F.C. TWG Motorsports brought its various motorsport holdings, including IndyCar, Formula E, and IMSA’s Wayne Taylor Racing, into a single entity to take control of the Cadillac F1 project. This move shifted control away from Michael Andretti and helped General Motors secure FIA approval to join the grid.

Dan Towriss

CEO Cadillac F1 Team

Dan Towriss serves as the chief executive of TWG Motorsports and the Cadillac F1 Team. He is also the CEO of Group 1001, a financial services firm known for the Gainbridge brand. His involvement in motorsport began when he sponsored aspiring IndyCar driver Zach Veach. That partnership grew into an ownership stake in Andretti Autosport and, eventually, the Cadillac F1 program. As CEO, Towriss oversees the business strategy and works with team principal Graeme Lowdon on long-term planning.

Graeme Lowdon

Team Principal

A familiar face from F1’s early 2010s, Graeme Lowdon was announced as Cadillac’s team principal in December 2024. Lowdon previously co-founded the Virgin Racing team, which later became Marussia and then Manor. After Manor's F1 effort ended, he worked in the World Endurance Championship before being hired by Andretti to help with their F1 bid. When Cadillac’s entry was provisionally accepted, Lowdon took the helm, tasked with building a competitive F1 team from the ground up.

Peter Crolla

Race Team Manager

Cadillac has strengthened its management team by hiring Peter Crolla, who served as Haas F1’s team manager since 2017. A long-time member of the Haas organization, Crolla will move to Cadillac in the spring of 2025 to manage the day-to-day track operations. His experience with Ferrari customer power units and logistical management makes him a perfect fit for Cadillac’s initial years using Ferrari engines.

Technical Leadership

Nick Chester

Technical Director

Nick Chester brings decades of design and engineering experience to Cadillac as the technical director, a role often called chief technical officer. He began his F1 career at Simtek before joining Arrows in 1995, moving from simulation to suspension design and race engineering. Chester later worked at Benetton, Lotus, and Renault, where he was technical director and helped contribute to Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning cars in 2005–06. More recently, he led Mercedes-Benz’s and McLaren’s Formula E programs. Chester was among the first technical hires for the Andretti F1 bid and has remained with the team through its transition to Cadillac.

Rob White

Chief Operations Officer

Rob White joined Cadillac in late 2024 as chief operations officer. An engineer with Cosworth’s IndyCar and F1 projects in the 1990s, White moved to Renault when Cosworth was sold. During his two decades at the Enstone team, he rose from engine engineer to a senior operations role. His experience running large engineering programs positions him to oversee the daily technical operations at Cadillac.

Pat Symonds

Executive Engineering Consultant

Legendary engineer Pat Symonds joined Cadillac in May 2024 as an executive engineering consultant. Symonds has been involved in F1 since the early 1980s, starting with the Toleman team and staying through its evolution into Benetton and later Renault. He served as head of research and development and as a race engineer, playing key roles in multiple championship campaigns. After leaving Renault in 2009, he returned to F1 as a consultant for Virgin (later Manor) and later as Williams’s chief technical officer. Before joining Cadillac, Symonds was Formula 1’s chief technical officer. His arrival brings invaluable experience and strategic oversight.

Mario Andretti

Board Advisor

Although the Andretti family is no longer running the project, 1978 F1 world champion Mario Andretti has been appointed as a non-voting advisor and a member of the board. He has said that he will help with driver selection and training but does not intend to be involved in day-to-day operations. Having an F1 world champion on the board reinforces the team’s credibility and provides a bridge to American fans.

Conclusion

Cadillac’s entry into Formula 1 is more than just a marketing move. The team has assembled a roster of experienced engineers and managers—many with championship pedigrees—and paired them with proven drivers. With Dan Towriss and TWG Motorsports controlling the business, Graeme Lowdon overseeing race operations, and a technical team led by veterans like Nick Chester and Pat Symonds, Cadillac aims to hit the grid with a competitive foundation already in place. While Ferrari power units will power the car initially, GM’s Russ O’Blenes is already building a dedicated facility to deliver an American-built F1 engine later in the decade. Whether this ambitious project succeeds will depend on how effectively these key figures translate their collective experience into results on the track.