Just over a full year previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the official approval as F1's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from scratch has required a frenetic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team understand the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be hosted in the US, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the nascent team in March 2023 shortly after it was created, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center since then and enjoys a knowing grin when reflecting on the experience.
“You might get a short period looking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “Then the next minute you realize: ‘Yes, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Chester achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's victorious seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the challenge of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Building an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you won't have the opportunity to change organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the looming moment of truth in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while the CTO echoed this he felt the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “In order that we show up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation performing the right things on the race track. When we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Effort
In August they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for the 2026 season, a pair remarkable for their vast knowledge in operating at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and the Mercedes team, and Bottas reflected the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. In my view given this organization, with this group, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to the front and achieve good results.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with employees now up to more than 400 and scheduled to hit the target of six hundred swiftly. Complementing their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the midst of completing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are developing the center to build the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – for now they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex structure, contrary to the trend in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we understand how tough it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. OK, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of project teams all tackling various components of the mission in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where an issue arises and they escalate it to their supervisor, that leader consults a manager somewhere else, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” notes Nick Chester. “We give authority to team members to handle things directly. Moving away from managerial sign-off for all decisions is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this nimble approach will be evaluated in the heat of competition next season and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
