Just over a full year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's most recent entrant for 2026. Establishing the organization from nothing has entailed a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport converges on Las Vegas this weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the season finale of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with around 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed project in early 2023 shortly after it was created, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and gets a knowing grin when considering the journey.
“You might get five minutes thinking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Yes, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical development at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry supported by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Establishing an Formula One team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you won't have the opportunity to transform cultural approach.”
With each day that passes focus are sharper on the impending moment of truth in Australia and expectations are being handled.
“One must presume that any new team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented earlier this year and while Chester echoed this he felt the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we turn up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation executing the right things on the track. When we prove that our credentials are solid, then we want to show forward movement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Effort
In the summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo notable for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the mood of determined optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to finish last. In my view with this setup, with this group, this staff, there is every reason that we won't be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in full swing, with personnel now reaching over 400 and scheduled to attain the objective of 600 members swiftly. In addition to their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the midst of finishing an main base at Fishers in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to manufacture the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will run Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organization, different from the movement in the sport for greater centralisation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” said the team principal just before the Silverstone race in July. “We’re realistic, we understand how difficult it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, rather than 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 different aspects of the project in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where an issue arises and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader consults a leader in another department, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” explains Nick Chester. “We give authority to team members to take charge. Eliminating management approval for everything is so much cleaner and faster.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this nimble strategy will be proven in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is a significant degree riding on this for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta
