Cadillac poach well-known Haas figure ahead of 2026 F1 entry

Cadillac have appointed their first F1 race team manager by poaching Peter Crolla from Haas.

The General Motors-led entry, who are set to become the sport’s 11th team in 2026, last year announced Graeme Lowdon as their team principal.

Now, Haas veteran Crolla has made the switch to fellow American outfit Cadillac ahead of next year.

Crolla joined Haas from McLaren in 2015 as race team coordinator and played a key role, alongside Guenther Steiner, in building the team up from backmarkers to midfield contenders. He then moved into a team manager role at the end of 2017.

The appointment comes as the FIA look to give formal approval to Cadillac’s entry for 2026, with F1’s long-term engineer Pat Symonds recently detailing the next 12 months and the steps to be taken.

“I hadn’t been sure what to expect,” said Cadillac consultant Symonds, on LinkedIn.

“This is very much a start-up, but a few key people have been working really hard for over a year now and what they have achieved is remarkable.

“Even though I have worked with most of them before and know the quality of their work, I was still hugely impressed, not just with the progress on the car itself, but with the solid foundational work behind it.

“I truly believe that we can put a car on the grid in 2026 that will be a credit to the team and Formula 1 itself.”

The 2025 F1 season starts on 16 March in Australia.