Just over a full year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the go-ahead as Formula One’s newest entrant for 2026. Establishing the team from scratch has required a intense pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 arrives on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the championship to be held in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent team in early 2023 not long after it was created, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core ever since and gets a amused expression when reflecting on the experience.
“You can have a short period looking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in less than three years,’” he notes. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
The CTO had success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of engineering strategy at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a works entry supported by the corporate entity, General Motors, into F1.
“Establishing an grand prix team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you rarely get the chance to transform cultural approach.”
With each day that passes focus are sharper on the approaching decisive point in the Australian GP and targets are being managed.
“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is going to be last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented recently and while Nick Chester shared this view 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,” he emphasizes. “In order that we show up and we operate well. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team doing the correct procedures on the race track. When we prove that we’re really credible, then we will focus on progression from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Push
In the summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a pair notable for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the mood of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I am confident given this organization, with this group, these personnel, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in top gear, with employees now up to more than 400 and intended to hit the objective of 600 rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the team are in the phase of building an main base at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are constructing the center to build the 2029 engine, set for the 2029 season – for now they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate structure, at odds with the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which the CTO alluded.
Apollo Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” stated Lowdon shortly before the British GP in July. “We are pragmatic, we understand how tough it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all working on various components of the project across a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their supervisor, that leader communicates with a leader somewhere else, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to really get on with it. Avoiding managerial sign-off for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this agile approach will be evaluated in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree on the line for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
