Cadillac have shown off the first pictures of the car livery they plan to use in the first batch of pre-season tests. F1’s newest team will put their first ever car on track for its maiden run at the behind-closed-doors week of testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya at the end of January.
And now the team has shown off the paint job that its cars will carry. This will not, however, be the livery with which Cadillac go racing. The team has confirmed that the testing design is “distinct from the official race livery”, which will be unveiled during Halftime at Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, California, on February 8.
The design is a “bare carbon look” which is mostly black with silver chosen as an accent colour. Cadillac say the design carries on a common trend for F1 testing liveries which “traditionally help mask aerodynamic details ahead of competition – much like camouflaged prototypes in the automotive world – while still expressing brand identity”.
There is plenty of the latter in the design, which makes it very clear which team’s car it is. The silver is used to splash a giant Cadillac crest across the sidepod and engine cover of the car, which stands out against the base black colour. Experienced drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez will be the ones taking it for a spin when the Barcelona test begins on January 26.
The livery will be used only at the Barcelona test, during which teams are allowed to run on any three days out of the five for which the circuit has been rented out by F1. The next two batches of pre-season testing take place in Bahrain in mid-February, after the Super Bowl reveal of the Cadillac’s race livery which the team will then use in those other testing blocks.
“Our new testing livery celebrates Detroit’s design heritage and the power of the global Cadillac Formula 1 team, while keeping our design secrets under wraps,” said General Motors president Mark Reuss. The Barcelona test is just the beginning – we can’t wait to share our official race livery with fans around the world next month.”
The special edition testing livery was revealed during an event at Hudson’s Detroit building, GM’s new global headquarters, and will be on display in the Michigan city until January 25 at the Detroit Auto Show. The design also features the names of every founding staff member of the new team, which have been placed onto the front nose of the car.
Cadillac F1 chief executive Dan Towriss said: “Debuting our race livery during a globally televised championship broadcast challenges convention and brings Cadillac Formula 1 to a global audience. Paired with this special-edition testing livery designed by the GM Global Design studios, we’re honoring automotive heritage while looking ahead as we build toward the 2026 season.”