Designing the future of Formula 1: Scarlett Orr’s life as an aerodynamicist at Cadillac Formula 1 Team

Scarlett Orr’s lifelong ambition of working in motorsport has brought her to contribute to shaping something historic: the first ever Cadillac Formula 1 Team car.

“I knew I wanted to be an aerodynamicist since I was about 11 years old,” Scarlett tells Females in Motorsport. She grew up immersed in the world of motorsport, thanks to her dad’s passion for classic cars that brought her family to racetracks since she was a kid.

“Once, when I was young,” she says, “I remember being in Silverstone in the paddock after a classic car race. Looking at the cars, I was interested in how they all looked so different, yet they got very similar results in the race. There, I realised that’s what I wanted to do: I wanted to design the shape of cars.”

Scarlett Orr at the Cadillac Formula 1 Team facility in Silverstone. Photo credit: Cadillac Formula 1 Team

Now, Scarlett is a Graduate Aerodynamics Test Engineer at Cadillac Formula 1 Team, designing the car with which they will debut on the 2026 grid. In her role, she analyses data from computational fluid dynamics simulations, studying the predicted air flow around different parts of the car, as well as working in the wind tunnel to test models of components.

“They’re actually very different jobs,” she says. “At the wind tunnel, the work is much higher paced, and you have to think on your feet a lot since technical issues can come up quite often.”

This role wasn’t Scarlett’s first experience in the world of F1. Having always had a clear goal in mind, she got a head start by getting work experience during high school, first at Red Bull Racing then at Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team. It was at Mercedes that she was advised to apply to Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering at Southampton University, one of the top programmes for the field of aerodynamics. Throughout her degree, she did two placements in aerodynamics at Aston Martin Formula 1 Team and, not long after graduation, she was offered her current role at the newly founded Cadillac Formula 1 Team.

“At the time,” she says, “Cadillac’s F1 entry hadn’t been approved yet, and I was fairly far into applications with other teams, so I knew it would be a risk for me to take the role.

“But I thought, it was going to be such an exciting project if the entry was confirmed, so I took the gamble.”

Scarlett Orr testing a model in the wind tunnel at the University of Southampton. Photo credit: Scarlett Orr

Cadillac’s entry into F1 was officially approved in March 2025. The team has had about a year to, essentially, design an F1 car from scratch. That’s really something you don’t get to do at any other team.

“We have no existing projects to build on,” she says, “and we’re not out collecting track data every race weekend. We run aerodynamics simulations and do tests in the wind tunnel, but we have no real life data to compare it to.”

One of the things that sets apart a good team is the feeling that everyone is working for the same goal. Having such a monumental goal to reach in such a short amount of time, Cadillac’s work culture perfectly reflects this feeling.

“Even if you’re really early in your career,” Scarlett says, “you’re given a lot of trust and freedom in your work, we have a very open culture. If I get an idea that I think is good, or I spot an issue, I can just go to the most senior people in the department and talk about it. Ideas are taken into consideration no matter your seniority, because we all want the car to be quick.”

Scarlett Orr at the Cadillac Formula 1 Team facility in Silverstone. Photo credit: Cadillac Formula 1 Team

The 2026 season is just around the corner, and with it, Cadillac’s debut on the F1 grid. After all the work she and the team have put in, Scarlett can’t wait to see the car on track for the first time, but she also knows this is just the beginning.

“It’s going to be so emotional,” she says, “and such a great accomplishment for the whole team. It almost feels like the end goal, to get the car out on track, but we’re actually just getting started.”

To explore careers with Cadillac Formula 1 Team, visit their careers page.