In the fourth part of an exclusive interview with Pit Debrief, Xavier Marcos Padros, current technical director of Cadillac’s LMDh sportscar program, talked about his vast motorsport experience and journey to Cadillac.
A new challenge with Cadillac
Marcos Padros boasts an impressive résumé. After working as a performance engineer with HRT F1 Team and then Williams Racing, he moved across the pond to the United States, where he worked as chief race engineer with Richard Childress Racing (RCR) in NASCAR. It was after this stint at RCR, that he returned to Europe to take up a role at the legendary Scuderia Ferrari.
Now, after several years at the Maranello-based team, Marcos Padros has moved onto a new chapter, taking up a new challenge with Cadillac, not in F1 but in endurance racing.
“I think there’s a part of life that you need to challenge yourself, no? And this is a big challenge for me.”
This will indeed be a big challenge for the Spaniard. However, while this is Marcos Padros’ first stint in endurance racing, he believes that he brings a plethora of experience in both technical and leadership aspects.
“I’ve never done endurance racing, and I think I can bring a lot of experience in terms of procedures, how to approach races and being methodical. It’s something I like. And putting a team together, a team of good engineers together. So, yeah, that’s what I believe I can bring to the team, to GM.”
A good team key to success
A good team, Marcos Padros believes, played a big role in his success and development at Ferrari. While he believes that he often handled pressure well, especially with the information available to him at the time, he credits the team behind him for their support.
“I think most of the time I handled [the pressure] the right way, with the information I had at the time. Again, after the fact, it’s easy.
“But it was not just me. It’s the whole team behind the race engineer.
He stated that he was lucky to have had such “good teammates” in the engineers and mechanics at Ferrari.
“So I was lucky enough to have good teammates around me, which helped me a lot. And overall, I am happy with what we did.”
Marcos Padros plans to develop a similarly strong team at Cadillac. While a methodical approach and good organisation are needed, he says, “The team is the most important thing.”
He explained that Cadillac needed people capable of collaborating and communicating well with each other, and compared building the team to a race weekend.
“You don’t need special people. You need people that collaborate and communicate between each other. And that’s what I can bring to Cadillac.
“I think we are growing and quite fast and we need systems in place for all these systems to work properly. Again, it’s like a race weekend, but slower pace.”
As a leader of the team, he understands that he will need to empower those around him, to encourage them to fulfil their responsibilities.
“And you need to empower the people, at the end of the day, because each one has a lot of responsibility.”
What motorsport series can learn from each other
The new Cadillac Technical director also spoke about the lessons that the different motorsport series could learn from each other. While Marcos Padros identified that the major principal behind them—having the fastest car—was the same, he noted that there were differences in their organisation and the rules governing them.
“I think all of them are essentially the same. You have a car and you want to be the fastest.
“Then each one is organised in a different way and [have] different rules.”
He added that it, would, however, be good to compare the different series, as this would allow them to learn the “good parts and bad” from each other. This, he believes, will help facilitate the growth of the motorsport industry.
“It will be nice to see that one to each other, that you could see the good parts and bad from each category.
“And it will be nice that one can learn from each other, like in fun engagement and stuff like this. I believe it will help a lot the motorsport industry.”
Social media and the growth of motorsport
As a motorsport fan himself, Marcos Padros is particularly aware of the importance of social media in promoting and growing motorsport. While he highlighted the role that the Netflix series Drive to Survive in increasing the popularity of F1 globally, he also noted the significant role of increased engagement with fans on the various social media platforms.
“But Formula 1, you can see with Netflix and how much it grew. Social media, really important. Facilitating the people [on] how to watch races, how to engage [on] social media with all the fans, having it more accessible and having more information about what is going on.
“As a fan, sometimes I watch TV and it’s not fully clear to me what is happening. So, all these things, I believe will help for all the fans.”
Marcos Padros also believes that increased access to team personnel, especially motorsport drivers, has played a significant role in increasing interest in motorsport.
“Then you can see that Formula 1 is a bit more difficult to [have] access to the drivers. It’s better than it was before or different, but more access to the drivers. Some others, like NASCAR, the fans, they have more access to the drivers.”
He added, “It’s quite interesting to see all these kind of differences between the categories.”
The need for diversity in motorsports
Marcos Padros also believes that the motorsport industry has become more accessible to diverse talent in recent years, and views this as a positive development in the industry, as it expands the talent pool available to the teams.
“I think the sport has changed a lot and they are more open to different nationalities and we need this because it’s really difficult to find people that are willing to spend weekends away, travelling quite a lot. And again, you need to sacrifice not just your life, no? Your family life also. So, it’s not easy to last during a long time in this kind of sports.”
He explained that different points of view, cultural influences, and professional experiences, among other factors, promoted the positive development and improvement of the sport.
“So, we need this and it’s always nice to see different point of view, different cultures, different way of thinking, different kind of engineers, backgrounds and I think we need this and it needs to grow more, much more.”
How Cadillac is contributing to the automotive industry
Developments in motorsport, of course, are not limited to the increased diversity of its associated staff. In recent years, there has also been an increased focus on sustainability and hybrid technology.
Motorsport’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has identified several objectives to promote sustainability, both in motorsport and the wider automotive industry. The 2026 F1 regulations, for example, will see cars fitted with an improved hybrid engine with a high energy recovery capacity and running on a fully sustainable fuel which will prevent the burning of new fossil carbon.
Cadillac, according to Marcos Padros, has also been working toward increased sustainability in the automotive industry, primarily through the development and improvement of electric (EV) vehicles.
“At Cadillac, we are pushing quite a lot for EV vehicles. To be honest, I drove [one] for the first time this year and they are quite unbelievable. I am quite impressed [with] the handling and how nice they are.”
He added that the technology and systems used in WEC, were also used in road cars produced by brands associated with the General Motors (GM) company, and highlighted the need for continued development of these more sustainable technologies.
“In terms of WEC, all the systems that we use, the technology that we use in WEC, it’s also used in the road cars from Chevrolet, GM in general.”
“And I believe we should push a bit more on all this technology.”
The sacrifices of a career in motorsport
As the popularity of motorsport increases, there are many young people across the globe who may consider pursuing a career in the industry. With a plethora of experience and success under his belt, Marcos Padros has some advice for those wanting to follow a path similar to his.
“First of all, study engineering or a master’s [degree]. It’s important, really important,” he advised.
However, he also identified some of the traits that individuals would need to build their careers. He explained that future prospects needed to go to the team understanding that they would need to build themselves up within it and maintain a strong sense of responsibility throughout their endeavours.
“And being able to go to a team like I need to thinking like I need to start from zero because motorsport is something different from everything else.
“And responsibility. Responsibility towards the team, responsibility that if you do or you start something you need to finish.”
Marcos Padros also warned about the sacrifices that a career in motorsport demands. While he acknowledged the glamour of the industry, he acknowledged the personal challenges that many within it faced, particularly the strain on their family life.
“Being away from home and sacrificing, going to a different country to live, it’s not easy at all. So, again, everything is nice from the outside, but yeah, you need to sacrifice not just your life, if you have a wife or kids, it’s a package together. I suffer it myself and I am lucky with how my family is. So, you need to be ready with all this package if you want. And yeah, it is quite important.
“It’s not a nine-to-five job,” he added, “Because you never stop. Mentally, you never stop.”
A fan of racing
Despite the sacrifices that his career has demanded and his focus on the new chapter of his career, Marcos Padros remains a fan of racing. When asked if he would continue to follow F1, he replied, “For sure I will try to watch it. I am a fan.”
He explained that he enjoyed racing, not only in F1 but other series like MotoGP.
“First of all, I am a fan and I like racing. I watch MotoGP, whatever it is. If I am busy, I will try to follow it on my phone. If I can, I will watch it.”
Co-author: Rachel Stephens
