A little more than a full year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the official approval as the world of Formula One's latest participant for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from scratch has involved a hectic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be hosted in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are cognizant there will not be sufficient time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in March 2023 soon after it was formed, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center ever since and has a amused expression when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in less than three years,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
The CTO had success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac marque, a works entry supported by the owner, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an Formula One team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you rarely get the chance to change cultural approach.”
With each passing day that elapses 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 incoming team joining the grid is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon noted earlier this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the track. After we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate improvement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Effort
In August they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their vast knowledge in competing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We face a massive task to do, and it will likely be most likely a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we’re not there to finish last. I believe with this structure, with this group, these people, there is every reason that we can't manage to progress rapidly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in overdrive, with employees now up to in excess of 400 and intended to attain the objective of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the process of completing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are building the center to produce the new engine, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, different from the trend in F1 for more centralization, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester alluded.
NASA Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” remarked Lowdon just before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We’re realistic, we know how difficult it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all focusing on different aspects of the program across a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they escalate it to their supervisor, that leader communicates with a manager at a different location, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to staff to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for all decisions is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
The Future
The success of this flexible strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is no little amount at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
