A little more than one year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the green light as the world of Formula One's latest entrant for 2026. Establishing the squad from nothing has involved a frenetic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As F1 converges on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the season finale of the season to be hosted in the America, with approximately 100 days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will not be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed team in early 2023 not long after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core ever since and has a amused expression when thinking about the experience.
“There might be five minutes reflecting at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yes, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the task of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a works entry sponsored by the owner, General Motors, into F1.
“Building an Formula One team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you don’t get the opportunity to change cultural approach.”
With each passing day that goes by thoughts are more focused on the impending moment of truth in Australia and targets are being managed.
“You have to assume that any new team coming in is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal noted earlier this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he felt the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “So that we arrive and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation doing the right things on the track. When we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate progression subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push
In the summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas expressed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We face a massive task to do, and it will likely be most likely a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. In my view with this structure, with this team, these people, there is every reason that we can't manage to progress rapidly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with employees now at in excess of 400 and intended to reach the objective of 600 quickly. Complementing their present headquarters at the UK base, the team are in the phase of finishing an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are building the facility to manufacture the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will run power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, contrary to the trend in Formula One for more centralization, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which the CTO alluded.
NASA Model
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” said Lowdon shortly before the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how difficult it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, rather than the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the project across a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a process where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their supervisor, that manager talks to a leader in another department, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” notes Nick Chester. “So we empower staff to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this nimble approach will be evaluated in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is no little amount at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their test driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
