Cadillac add off-track hires ahead of Formula 1 debut
Formula 1’s freshest team Cadillac have strengthened ahead of their first season on the grid, making two senior hires.
Lauren Teixeira will join the US team as chief commercial officer while Willem Dinger will become chief partnerships officer.
Teixeira joins having previously worked for the Formula 1 development Academy series, while she had had stints at the F1 Miami Grand Prix and Miami Dolphins NFL team.
She will report to Tyler Epp, a former president of F1 Miami Grand Prix.
Dinger joins from Unilever, where he was head of sport partnerships, having previously held a role at PR agency Prism.
“Willem and Lauren will strengthen Cadillac Formula 1 Team’s commercial, partnership and business operations as we accelerate toward our 2026 debut in the Formula 1 World Championship,” a statement read.
Cadillac means business
It is part of Cadillac’s ambition to hit the ground running as Formula 1’s 11th team.
They will make their engines Stateside but will assemble their 2026 challenger at a base in Silverstone, becoming the latest team to establish themselves in the co-called Motorsport Valley cluster of motor sport engineering businesses.
The team last week announced former TikTok and Twitter figure Ahmed Iqbal would become the team’s chief marketing officer.
The team, controlled by Chelsea co-owner Mark Walter’s TWG Global, will see the Formula 1 grid enjoy 11 teams for the first time since the 2016 season.
And the addition of a second US team – after Haas – marks a shift into North America, with a new $700m Apple TV deal signed in recent weeks.
Three races, including this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, are now in the United States. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri won the first grand prix in America this season, in Miami, while the second, in Austin, was claimed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The season is heading towards a championship win for Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris with races in Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi remaining on the calendar.