Where Cadillac might already be F1's best

While it didn't keep the point because of a post-race penalty, Cadillac's first top-10 showing ticked off a huge milestone last weekend - but the team also achieved another key landmark in its Formula 1 journey.

Points aren't awarded for the quality of your motorhome, but Cadillac's first, which made its debut in Monaco after 13 months of preparation, would probably score top marks based on the reaction from rival teams.

The 2300-square-foot luxury motorhome made a strong first impression on everyone who visited it in Monaco and even having to compete with new motorhomes from McLaren and Audi, Cadillac's really stood out. 

The three-floor motorhome (with a rooftop terrace with a slatted roof) has features like fireplace displays, bespoke Italian furniture, finishes from a Monaco-based interior designer and the first 'floating staircase' in F1 - a modern design feature that gives the illusion of 'levitating' stairs.

Those features are the most eye-catching, but functionality was the primary focus of the design, the construction of which was completed by German manufacturer Schuler.

Peter Crolla, Cadillac team manager, formerly of Haas, told The Race: "Culture is a massive thing for me, and regardless of who people ultimately work for, whether you're Cadillac F1 team, TWG, General Motors or one of our contractor groups, we all wear the same uniform, we're all here to ultimately do the same job. 

"I always operate on the 'one team' basis, so when we dine here as a team, we dine in the same room. The open plan seating arrangement allows people to just chop and change and meet new people as well, and spend some time with people that they might not necessarily do so. 

"It was important that we had this floor effectively allocated to team accommodation, just so people had a nice environment to operate in, to eat in. 

"We spend so long with a crazy workload and sometimes in some quite difficult environments, one of which is obviously [in Monaco], it's quite close quarters up in that garage, that it's nice to be able to give people the opportunity to come down the motorhome, have a nice meal, sit down in comfortable air-conditioned surroundings and just chill out for a few minutes and decompress."

It may sound trivial, but you can't underestimate the efficiency gain that comes with being able to feed your F1 team all at once.

If you don't have the space to feed all of your team, that can make scheduling all-important debriefs harder and, on a busy F1 weekend, efficiency is everything.

Crolla was a key appointment for Cadillac, given he's been there before as one of Haas F1's first-ever employees.

Having started work on April 1 last year, he worked to a tight 13-month schedule to ensure Cadillac had a huge hospitality unit for the first European race of the season.

"When I came on board, it was just no compromise," Crolla explained. "Everything had to be perfect, but it had to be here by the right time. That applied to everything we do really."

Instead of simply ticking the box of 'functional motorhome', Cadillac wanted to build something that would still be suitable if it becomes the frontrunning force it wants to be in the future.

Team boss Graeme Lowdon said: "If you come into Formula 1, you want to be additive; we don't just want to turn up. 

"We want to add to the whole show, and that's something that we said from the very start. And to come with proper intent and try and build a very competitive Formula 1 team. Facilities like this help; your work environment makes a huge difference."

That ambition is felt when you walk around Cadillac's motorhome. It has a real premium feel on every floor - broadly split between the first floor being a place for all of the team to dine in, the second floor where VIP guests are entertained, and the third floor being for management offices and meetings, with all three floors being multi-functional.

There's premium catering, dedicated coffee bars and plenty of comfortable areas for all occasions. It does make a strong argument for immediately being F1's best motorhome facility - probably the first area of F1 where Cadillac has started at a world-beating level.

Cadillac hopes to continue to improve its on-track performance and rise up the pecking order, but its presence in the paddock feels far ahead of a team only six races into its F1 journey.

The motorhome is quite literally a beacon in the paddock: visually impressive, impossible to miss and quite the sight at night when it's all lit up.

That's a real statement of intent and a great attractor of interest for prospective future employees. No individual is going to join an F1 team purely based on its motorhome, but Cadillac delivering such a polished one for the first time is an important statement of 'this team has all the right resources'.

"What I didn't want to do was have this kind of gentle introduction," Crolla explained.

"We were afforded a good opportunity by Formula 1, in that they gave us a good footprint. I wanted to make the most of that and really set our stall out so that we didn't have to grow in a few years' time. 

"This is our home, this is our environment for the years to come and I think it was always important that we just maximised that scale from all parts of the business - accommodating team, accommodating partners, accommodating shareholders, and exec groups. I think there's space for everybody here comfortably."

Transporting the motorhome across Europe is an impressive feat with 21 trucks and a build time for Monaco that started on the Friday before race week.

Plus, Cadillac had the added challenge of having to build its motorhome the other way around to the way it's been assembled so far, because of the tight confines of Monaco.

Building what stands as a unique motorhome design in the paddock is all part of the "blank sheet of paper" appeal that attracted Colla.

"I've done it twice now and people wondered why I came back to do another one 10 years later, but I love it," he said.

"I think 2025 for me was probably the most enjoyable year of my career because we had great autonomy, great support from ownership and leadership of the company. 

"One thing that we've never had to say while we were developing this team is, 'We've always done it like that', because we've never done anything any particular way.

"That was a really nice part of bringing people from other teams, is that we called on everybody's experience and everybody's previous knowledge to develop our first way of doing everything. 

"Now, it won't be perfect, and we'll always develop those procedures, but having the opportunity to call on some really experienced people that come from some really high-achieving competitive environments is a great opportunity. 

"I think the one thing that takes a lot of people by surprise when they join a new, new team is what nothing looks like. When you've got nothing and you walk into an empty building, it's quite daunting, but it's also a massive opportunity and a real pleasure to be able to sculpt that environment and your workspace around you."

And off-track Cadillac has sculpted something truly impressive, drawing praise and awe from rivals throughout the Monaco weekend. Its focus remains on building towards having the world-beating on-track success to match.