Approximately one year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the official approval as the world of Formula One's newest entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the team from nothing has required a frenetic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 arrives on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team understand the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be staged in the America, with just over a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart since then and has a amused expression when thinking about the ride.
“You can have a short period looking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “But then the very next instant you realize: ‘Well, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester had success at Renault in Alonso's victorious years of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the task of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the owner, General Motors, into F1.
“Building an F1 team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you rarely get the opportunity to alter cultural approach.”
With each passing day that passes thoughts are sharper on the impending decisive point in Australia and targets are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any new team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon noted this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he believed the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “In order that we show up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation executing the correct procedures on the race track. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on improvement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Effort
In August they signed Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a pair remarkable for their invaluable experience in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Bottas expressed the attitude of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We have a massive task to do, and it will likely be probably a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I believe with this setup, with this team, these people, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in full swing, with personnel now reaching over 400 and intended to attain the target of 600 quickly. In addition to their current base at the UK base, the squad are in the midst of building an headquarters at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are constructing the facility to manufacture the new engine, planned for 2029 – until then they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate structure, at odds with the trend in the sport for greater centralisation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how tough it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of Apollo teams all working on various components of the program at a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a process where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their manager, that manager communicates with a leader somewhere else, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes Nick Chester. “We give authority to staff to take charge. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible strategy will be tested in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a considerable amount riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their test driver the young American Colton Herta
