Just over a full year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last awarded the go-ahead as Formula One’s newest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from scratch has entailed a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 descends on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the campaign to be staged in the US, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed project in early 2023 not long after it was formed, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core ever since and gets a amused expression when reflecting on the experience.
“There might be a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what the team has created in less than three years,’” he notes. “And then the next minute you realize: ‘Yeah, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Chester had success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the challenge of launching the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the corporate entity, 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?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you won't have the opportunity to alter organizational mindset.”
With each day that goes by minds are more focused on the looming decisive point in the Australian GP and expectations are being handled.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented this year and while the CTO echoed this he believed the team had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So we arrive and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team executing the proper actions on the circuit. Once we prove that we’re really credible, then we want to show progression from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Effort
In late summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for the 2026 season, a tandem notable for their priceless expertise in operating at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver echoed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe given this organization, with these individuals, this staff, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in top gear, with employees now up to more than 400 and planned to reach the target of 600 rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the squad are in the midst of completing an headquarters at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are building the center to build the new engine, set for 2029 – until then they will run Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a intricate organization, different from the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon shortly before the British GP in the summer. “We’re realistic, we recognize how difficult it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, instead of the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all focusing on different aspects of the project at a different facilities.
“When you must follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they report it to their supervisor, that manager talks to a manager somewhere else, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” notes the CTO. “So we empower staff to take charge. Moving away from hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount riding on this for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
