Pazheno was one of the first to collaborate with Cadillac F1.

      Simon Pagenaud, the 2016 IndyCar Series champion and 2019 Indy 500 winner, has become another experienced professional to join the Cadillac F1 program. In fact, his collaboration with General Motors’ factory team began back in the spring, but it has now been announced officially.

      “I am pleased to officially announce that I am participating with Cadillac F1 in developing the 2026 car for this ambitious and exciting project!” the 41-year-old French driver shared on his social media pages.

      As the American publication Racer writes, Pagenaud often appears at GM’s Technical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, and spends “endless hours” behind the wheel of the simulator. At the same time he performs several tasks: combining work with Chevrolet engine engineers who are refining the power unit for the IndyCar teams, and collaborating with Cadillac F1. And he joined the new team several months before the contracts with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez were signed.

      “Optimizing the technical aspects of the car and building relationships with the specialists working at the team’s base has interested me ever since I started racing,” Racer quotes the IndyCar veteran as saying. “Interacting with engineers and the process of fine‑tuning the simulator so that it reproduces the real picture as accurately as possible gives me genuine pleasure.

      Thanks to this work I can share my experience and feel useful, because after my crash I really missed that.”

      Pagenaud has not started any races since the summer of 2023, when he crashed and suffered serious injuries after a brake failure on the Meyer Shank Racing car during a practice session at a road course in Ohio.

      “My task and my goal are to make the simulator as realistic as possible and also to lay the foundations of the future car. In that respect I want to help the Cadillac project,” he added.

      It is also worth quoting Graham Loudon, head of Cadillac F1: “Our work on the simulator in Charlotte is extremely important to the team, and this manifests itself at various levels.

      We are laying the foundations for future results, working on aerodynamic setups, checking all systems and procedures, and rehearsing a clear and efficient connection between our bases in the U.S. and the U.K., and ultimately with the race crew that will operate at the tracks. Simon shares his experience and energy, and that helps us a great deal.”