A little more than twelve months ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the official approval as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from nothing has involved a hectic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be held in the United States, with around three months to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are conscious there will not be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the nascent team in early 2023 soon after it was created, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its core ever since and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the journey.
“You can have a short period looking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in under three years,’” he notes. “But then the very next instant you realize: ‘Well, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical development at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has quite compared with the challenge of introducing the all-American Cadillac brand, a works entry sponsored by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Establishing an Formula One team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you don’t get the chance to change cultural approach.”
With each day that elapses minds are increasingly concentrated on the impending critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” the team principal commented this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he believed the organization had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we show up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation executing the proper actions on the circuit. When we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we will focus on progression from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Drive
In late summer they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their priceless expertise in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Bottas echoed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he said. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. In my view with this structure, with this team, this staff, it's entirely possible we can't manage to advance swiftly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in overdrive, with employees now reaching over 400 and scheduled to attain the target of 600 swiftly. Alongside their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the phase of finishing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are constructing the center to build the new engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will run Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated structure, contrary to the trend in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” stated the team principal shortly before the Silverstone race in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how difficult it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, instead of the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of project teams all working on distinct elements of the program across a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a process where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that leader talks to a manager at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” explains Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to really get on with it. Eliminating management approval for everything is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a significant degree on the line for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
