A little more than one year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the official approval as the world of Formula One's newest entry for 2026. Building the squad from nothing has entailed a frenetic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 arrives on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac understand time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the season to be staged in the America, with approximately 100 days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are conscious there will not be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in early 2023 soon after it was created, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core from that point and has a knowing grin when thinking about the journey.
“There might be five minutes looking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” Chester states. “But then the following moment you think: ‘Well, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
The CTO achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in control of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has truly matched the challenge of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the parent company, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an Formula One team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you won't have the chance to change cultural approach.”
With each passing day that goes by thoughts are increasingly concentrated on the impending moment of truth in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team coming in is going to be last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted earlier this year and while Chester echoed this he thought the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “In order that we turn up and we operate well. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation performing the right things on the circuit. Once we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on improvement from there on.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Push
In late summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their invaluable experience in competing at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and we expect most likely a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. In my view with this setup, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in full swing, with employees now reaching in excess of 400 and intended to reach the goal of 600 quickly. In addition to their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the phase of building an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are constructing the facility to build the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will run power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a intricate organisation, different from the direction in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which the CTO alluded.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated the team principal ahead of the British GP in July. “We’re realistic, we understand how tough it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, instead of the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all tackling different aspects of the mission at a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that manager consults a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” explains the CTO. “We give authority to staff to handle things directly. Moving away from managerial sign-off for all decisions is much smoother and faster.”
The Future
The efficacy of this agile approach will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is no little amount riding on this for F1, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their development driver the young American Colton Herta
