Cadillac team boss Grim Loudon has said the team will use a fully legal engine for the 2026 season, following controversy over Mercedes’ engine cheating allegations.

During the winter months, Mercedes, and possibly Red Bull, reportedly found a way to increase the engine compression ratio above the new 16:1 limit while the cars were on track. Moreover, during measurements made in boxes at normal temperatures, turning the compression to 16:1 provided an increase in power. At the Melbourne round it was estimated that this time could go up to 0.3 seconds per lap, or up to 17.4 seconds over the 58-lap circuit.

The new player in the championship, Cadillac, will be a customer of Ferrari and the team has already run the engine at Silverstone.

“I am very pleased and confident that we have a completely legal engine,” Loudon said.

“In these engines, combustion is not allowed to occur at a compression ratio of more than 16 to 1.
Without going into detail, we know that Ferrari complies fully with the rules and this gives us great confidence.

We work and support our engine partner at the maximum level in terms of performance. We are extremely pleased with the cooperation.

I can’t speak for other people’s engines or how others interpret the rules. But for me everything is extremely clear; everything is black and white.”

I have worked with Ferrari many times before; they are great partners. This is a legendary name in Formula 1. “All the people on this team are true racers, and we’re excited to welcome them to the Cadillac team.”

At the beginning of last week, Ferrari officially announced that Lewis Hamilton’s chief engineer Riccardo Adami was leaving his post to become chief tester of previous cars and head of the team’s youth academy.

Hamilton and Adami worked together in the Briton’s first season with Ferrari in 2025. However, their collaboration has repeatedly come under scrutiny due to intense radio exchanges during races. On the eve of the new season, the team decided to separate the sides.

Given the quick appointment of a replacement following the termination of Adami’s contract, it became clear that this was not part of the Scuderia’s original plans. Kimi Raikkonen’s former engineer, Carlo Santi, has temporarily taken over as Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer from Riccardo Adami.

At the same time, a number of exclusive media are reporting that Ferrari has reached an agreement with former McLaren engineer Cedric Michel-Grosjean at the beginning of the 2026 season. He was previously the Woking team’s chief track performance engineer, working closely with Oscar Piastri until his sacking last December.

Alpin’s executive consultant Flavio Briatore said that Franco Colapinto, who will spend his first season in Formula 1 in 2026, shows much greater maturity.

The Argentine has previously featured as a mid-season substitute: in 2024 with Williams and in 2025 with Alpine, replacing Jack Douhan from the Imola Grand Prix.

Colapinto had a difficult 2025 season and finished the year without points, as Alpine started preparations for the 2026 rules early. This was in stark contrast to his performance at Williams, where he qualified for Q3 and earned his first points at the second race of the season, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Flavio Briatore noted:

“Last year was Franco’s first year in Formula 1. There were a lot of expectations. Not everything was organized correctly. This year you see Franco, he is much more mature. He is not the same kid as last year.”

Last season Colapinto often showed comparable pace to his more experienced teammate Pierre Gasly, but qualifying was his weak point.

“We worked a lot with him this winter. Franco’s main problem was qualifying because he was as fast as Pierre in the race. He had to drive the car and qualify using his ability, not his emotions. He is growing. He is working very well in the factory. We spent a lot of time in the simulator. We did everything we could.”