A little more than twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the official approval as F1's latest participant for 2026. Establishing the organization from nothing has entailed a hectic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As Formula One descends on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the final race of the season to be staged in the US, with approximately 100 days 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 come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed operation in the spring of 2023 not long after it was formed, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core since then and has a wry smile when thinking about the journey.
“You can have a short period thinking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we have built in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you realize: ‘Yes, we still have a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of the mid-2000s and was in command of technical development at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the mission of bringing the all-American Cadillac name, a factory team supported by the parent company, GM, into F1.
“Creating an F1 team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you won't have the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With each day that elapses minds are sharper on the looming decisive point in Melbourne and expectations are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team joining the grid is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented earlier this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he felt the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we show up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender performing the proper actions on the circuit. After we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate progression after that.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Drive
In late summer they contracted Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for the 2026 season, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver expressed the mood of determined optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to finish last. I believe with this structure, with this team, this staff, there’s no reason why we can't manage to progress rapidly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To that end recruitment has been in top gear, with personnel now up to more than 400 and scheduled to hit the objective of six hundred quickly. Alongside their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the midst of completing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are building the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will use power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, different from the trend in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred.
Space Mission Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” said the team principal ahead of the British GP in mid-season. “We’re realistic, 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 implemented, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of project teams all focusing on distinct elements of the mission across a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a procedure where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their manager, that leader communicates with a supervisor somewhere else, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” notes Nick Chester. “So we empower staff to handle things directly. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is much smoother and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this agile approach will be tested in the heat of competition next season and there is a significant degree riding on this for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
