A little more than twelve months ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last granted the go-ahead as F1's newest participant for 2026. Constructing the team from scratch has involved a frenetic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with around three months to go before they take to the track for the first time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are aware there will not be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the nascent operation in March 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart from that point and has a wry smile when reflecting on the ride.
“There might be five minutes reflecting at what you’ve done and say: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he says. “And then the very next instant you realize: ‘Well, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Chester achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has been quite like the challenge of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a works entry supported by the corporate entity, General Motors, into F1.
“Building an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you rarely get the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that elapses thoughts are more focused on the impending decisive point in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” the team principal commented recently and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he felt the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we should 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 track. When we prove that we’re really credible, then we want to show forward movement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Push
In August they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in performing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because it is F1. But we’re not there to finish last. In my view with this structure, with this group, these people, there is every reason that we won't be able to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with staff now up to more than 400 and intended to hit the objective of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their present headquarters at the UK base, the team are in the midst of completing an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are building the facility to build the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will use power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a sophisticated structure, contrary to the trend in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Chester alluded.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We’re realistic, we know how challenging it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all working on various components of the project at a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a procedure where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their supervisor, that manager consults a leader in another department, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” notes Chester. “So we empower people to really get on with it. Avoiding managerial sign-off for all decisions is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible strategy will be proven in the heat of competition next season and there is a significant degree on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta
