Just over one year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last granted the go-ahead as F1's latest entry for the 2026 season. Building the team from nothing has entailed a intense operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the championship to be staged in the US, with approximately three months to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are conscious there will not be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent project in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core from that point and has a wry smile when thinking about the journey.
“There might be a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” Chester states. “But then the following moment you consider: ‘Well, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
Chester achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the mission of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the parent company, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an Formula One team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you don’t get the possibility to change organizational mindset.”
With each day that goes by focus are more focused on the impending moment of truth in the Australian GP and expectations are being managed.
“One must presume that any new team coming in is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon noted earlier this year and while the CTO shared this view he thought the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “So that we show up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation executing the proper actions on the track. Once we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we want to show improvement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Drive
In late summer they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a duo remarkable for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Bottas echoed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he said. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I believe with this setup, with this group, these personnel, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To that end recruitment has been in full swing, with staff now at in excess of 400 and intended to attain the goal of 600 quickly. Complementing their current base at Silverstone, the squad are in the phase of finishing an HQ at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to build the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organisation, at odds with the direction in F1 for more centralization, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred.
Space Mission Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” stated Graeme Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how challenging it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, rather than the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all working on various components of the program at a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their team leader, that leader communicates with a manager at a different location, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” notes Chester. “We give authority to staff to really get on with it. Eliminating managerial sign-off for each action is so much cleaner and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible strategy will be evaluated in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is no little amount at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
