Cadillac Formula 1® Team: See inside the history-making first race
2026-04-27
You couldn’t overstate how far the Cadillac Formula 1® Team has come. Call it miraculous, Herculean, or legendary: After just 366 days, the team transformed from an aspiration into a fully fledged racing outfit, placing two cars on the starting grid at F1®'s season opener in Australia.
Even with promising signs along the journey, from initial simulations to the car’s first shakedown in Silverstone, the journey has been a nail-biter. But finally, the culmination of the team’s work arrived Down Under in style, ready to race.
This season finale of What Makes Fast takes you along for those nervy final moments ahead of the race itself. It makes for a sprawling, world-spanning journey, as the series' hosts get an inside view of team operations in three separate locations – from the GM Motorsports Charlotte Technical Center, to the Silverstone race HQ, and down to the track itself, where two drivers and the race team take to the starting grid on a history-making journey.
Throughout the episode, we revisit some of the key protagonists, from test driver Simon Pagenaud, who pulls out an absolutely heroic effort in the race simulator, to GM CEO Mary Barra, who was on the ground in Australia to celebrate the team’s season opener.
Every epic journey begins with those first steps, and What Makes Fast has had a rare look at every step along the way. Following a promising start to the season in Australia, it’s clear the first race—and the frenzied run up to it—were indeedthe beginning of an incredible journey.
You couldn’t overstate how far the Cadillac Formula 1® Team has come. Call it miraculous, Herculean, or legendary: After just 366 days, the team transformed from an aspiration into a fully fledged racing outfit, placing two cars on the starting grid at F1®'s season opener in Australia.
Even with promising signs along the journey, from initial simulations to the car’s first shakedown in Silverstone, the journey has been a nail-biter. But finally, the culmination of the team’s work arrived Down Under in style, ready to race.
This season finale of What Makes Fast takes you along for those nervy final moments ahead of the race itself. It makes for a sprawling, world-spanning journey, as the series' hosts get an inside view of team operations in three separate locations – from the GM Motorsports Charlotte Technical Center, to the Silverstone race HQ, and down to the track itself, where two drivers and the race team take to the starting grid on a history-making journey.
Throughout the episode, we revisit some of the key protagonists, from test driver Simon Pagenaud, who pulls out an absolutely heroic effort in the race simulator, to GM CEO Mary Barra, who was on the ground in Australia to celebrate the team’s season opener.
Every epic journey begins with those first steps, and What Makes Fast has had a rare look at every step along the way. Following a promising start to the season in Australia, it’s clear the first race—and the frenzied run up to it—were indeed the beginning of an incredible journey.
