Just over one year ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the go-ahead as Formula One’s most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from nothing has required a intense operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the season to be hosted in the America, with approximately 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed project in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was created, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart from that point and gets a knowing grin when considering the experience.
“You can have a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” he notes. “But then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the mission of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a works entry sponsored by the parent company, GM, into Formula One.
“Establishing an grand prix team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you rarely get the possibility to alter organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that elapses thoughts are sharper on the approaching critical moment in the Australian GP and expectations are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any new team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while the CTO shared this view he thought the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So we turn up and we operate well. We want to show that we are a serious contender doing the proper actions on the circuit. After we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on improvement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push
In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be probably a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I am confident with this setup, with these individuals, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in full swing, with staff now at in excess of 400 and scheduled to hit the objective of six hundred quickly. Alongside their present headquarters at the UK base, the organization are in the process of building an main base at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to build the power unit, planned for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will run Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a intricate structure, at odds with the trend in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.
NASA Model
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we know how difficult it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all tackling different aspects of the program across a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they raise it up to their team leader, that manager communicates with a manager somewhere else, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” notes Chester. “So we empower people to take charge. Moving away from managerial sign-off for each action is much smoother and faster.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this nimble strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a significant degree on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have recruited as their test driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
