A little more than twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last granted the green light as F1's newest participant for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from nothing has required a intense pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 descends on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the season to be held in the United States, with approximately three months to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are aware there will never be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the nascent project in March 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and has a wry smile when reflecting on the journey.
“You can have a short period looking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yes, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
The CTO had success at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical development at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has been quite like the mission of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a factory team sponsored by the owner, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an F1 team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you rarely get the opportunity to transform cultural approach.”
With every day that goes by thoughts are increasingly concentrated on the looming critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any incoming team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal noted earlier this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he says. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the right things on the race track. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push
In late summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it’s going to be most likely a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I believe with this setup, with these individuals, these people, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with staff now reaching in excess of 400 and intended to reach the objective of 600 quickly. Alongside their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the process of building an headquarters at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to manufacture the new engine, planned for the 2029 season – for now they will run Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organisation, different from the trend in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British GP in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how difficult it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, rather than the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all focusing on distinct elements of the project across a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a process where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their manager, that leader talks to a leader somewhere else, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” notes the CTO. “So we empower team members to really get on with it. Eliminating hierarchical consent for each action is much smoother and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this agile methodology will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
