Just over twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last given the official approval as F1's most recent participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from scratch has involved a frenetic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One descends on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the final race of the championship to be hosted in the United States, with around a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are cognizant there will never be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed project in early 2023 not long after it was formed, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and has a amused expression when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get a short period reflecting at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he notes. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Well, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
The CTO had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the mission of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the owner, GM, into F1.
“Establishing an grand prix team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you don’t get the chance to change cultural approach.”
With each passing day that passes thoughts are sharper on the impending critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon stated recently and while Nick Chester shared this view he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “So we show up and we function efficiently. We want to show that this is a professional operation doing the right things on the track. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate improvement from there on.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Push
In August they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he said. “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. In my view with this setup, with these individuals, these personnel, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with staff now at in excess of 400 and planned to attain the target of 600 members quickly. In addition to their existing facility at the UK base, the squad are in the process of finishing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are constructing the facility to manufacture the power unit, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate organization, different from the trend in the sport for more centralization, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which the CTO alluded.
NASA Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” said the team principal ahead of the Silverstone race in July. “We’re realistic, we know how tough it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the program across a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they raise it up to their supervisor, that supervisor talks to a leader in another department, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” explains Chester. “So we empower team members to take charge. Avoiding management approval for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
The Future
The efficacy of this agile approach will be evaluated in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree riding on this for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
