A little more than a full year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the green light as Formula One’s latest entry for 2026. Establishing the squad from nothing has required a hectic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 descends on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the championship to be staged in the United States, with just over a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic team in early 2023 shortly after it was created, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and gets a wry smile when thinking about the journey.
“There might be a brief moment reflecting at what you’ve done and say: ‘Wow, how impressive what we have built in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you realize: ‘Well, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's championship-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the mission of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a factory team supported by the parent company, GM, into F1.
“Building an grand prix team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you don’t get the possibility to transform team culture.”
With each day that goes by minds are sharper on the approaching moment of truth in Australia and expectations are being handled.
“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he felt the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the track. When we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show forward movement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Effort
In the summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo notable for their vast knowledge in performing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the attitude of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We face a mountain of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident with this structure, with this team, this staff, there is every reason that we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in full swing, with staff now up to more than 400 and intended to attain the objective of six hundred quickly. In addition to their present headquarters at the UK base, the team are in the process of finishing an HQ at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are building the plant to build the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate organisation, contrary to the movement in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
NASA Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British GP in July. “We are pragmatic, we understand how challenging it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of project teams all tackling distinct elements of the program in a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a process where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their manager, that manager talks to a manager somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” explains Nick Chester. “We give authority to people to take charge. Eliminating hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible methodology will be tested in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a considerable amount on the line for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
