Pollock warns Cadillac patience key as F1 newcomer

(GMM) Craig Pollock (pictured) says Cadillac faces a long, difficult road as it builds a Formula 1 team from scratch – but insists the timing of its entry could hardly be better.

The former BAR founder, who led Jacques Villeneuve’s career and launched British American Racing in 1999, told La Presse Canadienne that Cadillac is confronting the same challenges he once did.

“Cadillac is doing what I had to do,” Pollock said. “You start from scratch and you have to build the team. That’s very, very difficult.”

BAR famously endured a disastrous debut season in 1999, failing to score a single point before gradually improving. Pollock said expectations must be carefully managed this time.

“A team is not about putting 400, 500 or 600 people together,” he explained. “It takes a lot of time to build a team. It can take three, five years.”

He believes Cadillac has learned from history, pointing to the appointment of former Marussia boss Graeme Lowdon. “They won’t make the mistake we made at the start,” Pollock smiled, referring to BAR’s early overconfidence about wins in the first season.

Unlike BAR, however, Cadillac will enter during a full regulation reset. “This is 100 percent the best time to enter as the 11th team,” Pollock stressed, noting that all competitors are effectively starting again under the 2026 rules.

Pollock also backed Cadillac’s choice of experienced drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez. “It’s smart, because they have experience. They can bring their experience from other teams and help the engineers make the necessary changes,” he said.

However, he added: “Both are very good drivers, but both, in truth, were always second in other teams.”

Turning to Aston Martin’s high-profile hiring of Adrian Newey, Pollock struck a note of caution. Having briefly worked with Newey at Williams, he acknowledged the designer is “hyper-competent” – but questioned his new role as team principal.

“There are never any miracles in F1,” Pollock warned. “We’ll see. It’s not just him, it’s the whole team around him. Everyone has to work together. But if he’s split in two … that’s something I wouldn’t do.”