Cadillac Formula 1 Team CEO Dan Towriss insists his team have exceeded expectations since joining the sport's grid in 2026.

Cadillac have built a team from scratch, sourcing power units from Ferrari, and while they have managed to finish races so far, they have always been lapped and still require a lot of improvement as they are almost three to four seconds off the pace despite a major upgrade in Miami delivering some progress.

However, from his point of view, Towriss believes Cadillac are doing a good job so far; he told Formula 1's official website: "When you think about short-, medium-, and long-term goals, I think we're on track.

"I think we're ahead of the short-term goals, but we want to make sure we're on track with the medium-term goals.

"Certainly the long-term goals are quite ambitious in Formula 1," he claimed. "If you think about it, there are so many work streams that are happening at the same time, from a real estate project to building a team to recruiting to building out all the pieces in the organization to tracking parts in a multicontinental effort with races all over the world. A lot of moving parts here—and I'm really happy with how it's all coming together."

It's all about progress

Towriss understands the time and effort required to succeed in F1. He continued: "There are a lot of things we have in future plans, but everything is a process.

"It doesn't happen overnight, especially when you're starting from scratch. It takes time. We're excited about those plans.

"A lot of build-up and a lot of great feeling about getting to track and exceeding expectations—but that all evaporated once the lights went out in Melbourne. It's so intensively competitive.

"Now it's all about progress, progress, progress," he insisted. "There is not a moment to sit back and feel good about things. It's all about: How do we get better? How do we grow this team and compete with more and more cars on track on a race weekend?"

Formula 1 a really hard sport

Towriss also acknowledged how ruthless the competition in F1 is and insisted Cadillac's low position in the pecking order reflects that and not underperformance by the team.

He explained: "Just seeing the way the team fits in and the respect that we have earned in the paddock with the performance we have brought so far, I think we did exceed a lot of expectations.

"To those who said, 'You're a backmarker,' I'm saying you don't know much about Formula 1. What this team has been able to achieve in such a short space of time is truly incredible.

"As everyone knows, it's a really hard sport. It's the pinnacle of motorsport. What we have been able to build is great.

"Now it's just how do we take that and continue to build and make the learning curve and trajectory of progress as steep as possible," Towriss concluded.