Pat Symonds has officially begun work at Cadillac ahead of its proposed entry in the 2026 Formula One World Championship.

Symonds, who was previously Chief Technical Officer at F1, was announced as Cadillac's Executive Engineering Consultant last year, weeks after quitting his previous role.

At Cadillac Symonds will reunite with a number of former colleagues including (Technical Director) Nick Chester and (Chief Operating Officer) Rob White, the Briton having been at Enstone in the Benetton days of Michael Schumacher and subsequently Renault, by whom he was eventually fired, along with Flavio Briatore, for their roles in the infamous Crash-gate saga.

Symonds' appointment was announced while Michael Andretti was at the helm of the proposed team, but it was only after Dan Towriss took control and Andretti stood down that F1 looked on the new outfit more favourably, unofficially giving it the green light for 2026.

Taking to Linkedin, Symonds announced his arrival at Cadillac while giving further insight to the project.

"I am delighted to announce that today I officially take up my new role at Cadillac as we build our team to contest the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship," he wrote.

"It is an exciting challenge as, if the 2026 pre-season testing follows the pattern of 2014 (when we last had a new power unit), we have less than 400 days until the car runs.

"General Motors (GM) have a long motorsport tradition," he continued, "and I remember as a young boy seeing the Chaparral 2F win the (1967) BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch. Jim Hall, the man behind Chaparral always acknowledged the contribution GM made to that programme.

"More recently through their Chevrolet and Cadillac brands they have been competitive in Sports Car racing in addition to being a power unit supplier to IndyCar. From Le Mans to Talladega and sports cars to stock cars, they know how to win.

"At the same time, as the pinnacle of motorsports, they fully respect the innovation and excellence required in F1 and what it will take to build the team to replicate the success they have enjoyed in other series.

"Building a Formula 1 car is a daunting but well documented task," he admits. "The timelines and gateways are well established, and the team already has plenty of experienced personnel who have been designing and developing the car for some while. Alongside them others have been putting into place the necessary processes to ensure we can adhere to the tight timelines and unwavering quality required of Formula 1.

"In parallel to this we are building the infrastructure to support our challenge at our base in Silverstone. Starting with the proverbial 'clean sheet of paper' presents far more opportunities than it does challenges."

Sadly, the positivity is somewhat spoiled by the mention of an aspect of contemporary F1 that will greatly please the powers that be, but do little for the rest of us.

"The team will be built around not just the highest engineering standards but also the highest ESG standards as we work toward making it the best team to work for in Formula 1," he claims.

And it was all sounding so good.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Ricardo_sanchez, 03/01/2025 20:34

"At least Symond’s offered a fulsome apology for his role in the disgraceful ‘crashgate’ saga. It is still a bit surprising that the Andrettis, known for their integrity, would want him in the team. Maybe his recent FIA experience played a part in recent developments…"

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2. Posted by Celtic Tiger, 03/01/2025 18:42

"That picture of him looks as if someone rubbed a party balloon on his head before the snap was taken."

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3. Posted by moomoo, 03/01/2025 18:20

"@Chester, no you're not."

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4. Posted by Paulinho, 03/01/2025 12:11

"It'll be interesting to see what he brings to the team, he's actually really good at race strategies."

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5. Posted by Chester, 03/01/2025 12:03

"I am alone in thinking Symonds may be past sell-by date?"

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Symonds starts work at Cadillac

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