Why Cadillac abandoned its split F1 livery
As it tried to make a splash as Formula 1’s latest entrant, Cadillac made its debut with a bold black and white split design livery. But following the success of a series of one-off colour schemes, the US-owned team has now moved to a more conventional design.
Cadillac launched its first-ever livery during a Super Bowl halftime ad, adorning its MAC-26 with an asymmetric black and white livery.
But a more traditional one-off design for its Miami homecoming, which added stars and stripes to the livery but also leaned more on the predominantly white left-hand side of the original livery, was so well received by fans that it got the team to rethink what its standard livery should be.
Cadillac launched an asymmetrical livery for its F1 debut.
Photo by: Paul Crock / AFP via Getty Images
“We launched the asymmetric livery during the Super Bowl halftime show, which we thought was just another way of showing that the team wants to approach Formula 1 a little bit differently,” team principal Graeme Lowdon explained. “We said we would try and bring a few different things to Formula 1. I think that was a really positive move, and we ran that livery for a while.
“We then ran a livery in Miami, which was really well received by the fans, and we took account of that. The livery we have now is actually quite similar to that Miami livery. Then, in the middle of that, we introduced the livery to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.”
Cadillac first rolled out its updated symmetrical, white-on-black livery over the Austrian Grand Prix weekend. Following a bespoke 4th of July livery for Silverstone, the new livery has also been on the car in Belgium.
Cadillac’s new standard livery has taken cues from its popular Miami design, with more emphasis on white.
Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images
While it’s just a colour scheme, Lowdon feels his squad’s approach to how it presents itself also translates to other parts of the business. That includes its aggressive upgrade strategy with a constant introduction of new parts, as it’s not just the livery that has evolved. The MAC-26 running around Spa-Francorchamps is substantially different from the more basic car the team launched in Australia.
“As a team, if you look at not just livery changes, but if you look at upgrades, I think we’re pretty high up there on the count of upgrades that we’ve brought to the car,” Lowdon pointed out. “Again, I think it’s just a reflection of the way we’ve tried to approach the entry into Formula 1.
“It’s never been about just getting here. It’s always been about trying to get here as a team and do what all the other teams do, which is push the boundaries. We’re not just sitting back, whether that’s upgrading the car or experimenting with the livery as well. As I’ve said, the fan reaction has been really positive as well.”
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