Cadillac heads to Silverstone chasing answers after Austria with stars-and-stripes livery for US 250 celebration

After showing encouraging pace but failing to convert it into a strong result at the Red Bull Ring, the team believes its recent upgrades have moved the car in the right direction. The focus now is turning that potential into points at one of Formula 1's fastest and most demanding circuits.

The British Grand Prix also falls across the United States' Independence Day weekend, giving Cadillac an opportunity to showcase its American identity on Formula 1's biggest international stage. The team will race with a special full-colour red, white and blue livery, with matching driver helmets, garage branding and team kit marking America's 250th anniversary.

Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss believes the weekend is about far more than just racing.

Towriss said: "The 4th of July weekend is a moment for us to show our continued pride in representing the United States on the global stage of F1.

"We want to use it as an opportunity to allow new communities to discover the sport and share our passion."

The special colours will also feature at the Cadillac Formula 1 Team x Jim Beam Pit Stop BBQ during ESSENCE Fest in New Orleans as part of the team's efforts to introduce Formula 1 to new audiences beyond the race circuit.

While the celebrations will attract plenty of attention, Team Principal Graeme Lowdon insists the priority remains extracting more performance after Austria exposed weaknesses that still need solving.

Lowdon said: "The Austrian Grand Prix was a challenge for us – but there is not one team in the pitlane that has not had similar days. We have been working incredibly hard to rectify the issues.

"We have seen that the upgrades brought to Spielberg were positive, and our objective in Silverstone is to ensure that we have a clean weekend to maximize the performance potential we see.

"We appreciate it's a big task - especially coming so soon after Austria - but we will take every opportunity to learn, move forward and continue our progress as a team," he concluded.

Cadillac has shown flashes of midfield competitiveness during recent weekends, but reliability and execution have prevented the American outfit from consistently capitalising on that progress. Silverstone's mix of high-speed corners and technical infield will provide another important benchmark for the team's development.

Sergio Perez believes the ingredients are there, but insists the team must first establish stronger foundations before unlocking the car's full pace.

Perez said: "The team continues to show so much promise and I am encouraged by the flashes of performance we demonstrated in Austria. That said, we need to now focus on getting the foundations completely solid to unlock that potential."

The Mexican also highlighted the importance of maximising every opportunity during the Sprint weekend.

"To develop our car and this team as rapidly as possible, we need to get mileage and information in every session," Perez explained. "Silverstone will be a tricky event and it looks like high temperatures again, but we have a lot of experience and resilience in this team to find the way forward. I'm looking forward to the weekend and hope to be able to give our American fans another reason to celebrate the 4th of July."

Team-mate Valtteri Bottas returns to a circuit where he has enjoyed success throughout his career. The Finn won at Silverstone during his Formula Renault days and has since claimed two Formula 1 poles and five podiums at the Northamptonshire venue.

However, Bottas arrives needing to end a worrying run of reliability problems after retiring from each of the last three Grands Prix.

"Silverstone is a real drivers' circuit, it's very fast but technical enough to make you really think about what you're doing, which means a driver can really make a difference," Bottas said.

Reflecting on Austria, he added: "While Austria was a disappointing race, the weekend itself had many positives, with us having moments where we were closer to the midfield than we were to the back of the grid. It was, however, my third DNF in a row, and so the priority now is ensuring we have a car that is more robust and capable of finishing races."

Cadillac will also have reserve drivers Colton Herta and Zhou Guanyu drawing on strong memories at Silverstone. Herta has twice stood on the podium at the circuit in junior categories, while Zhou won the Formula 2 Feature Race there in 2021 after finishing third and second in the previous two seasons.

For Cadillac, though, history and celebrations will matter little unless they can translate encouraging pace into a complete race weekend. Silverstone offers another opportunity to prove the progress shown in Austria was genuine and that the newest team on the grid is continuing its climb towards the Formula 1 midfield.