Approximately one year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately granted the green light as Formula One’s latest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from the ground up has involved a hectic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One arrives on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the last event of the season to be hosted in the US, with just over a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are conscious there will not be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed team in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core since then and enjoys a amused expression when thinking about the journey.
“There might be a brief moment reflecting at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” he says. “But then the following moment you think: ‘Well, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical development at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has truly matched the task of launching the all-American Cadillac name, a works entry supported by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you rarely get the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that passes thoughts are more focused on the approaching critical moment in Australia and targets are being managed.
“You have to assume that any incoming team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon commented this year and while the CTO shared this view he believed the team had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “So we arrive and we function efficiently. We want to show that this is a professional operation doing the correct procedures on the track. Once we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on progression from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push
In the summer they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the attitude of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and we expect probably a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident with this setup, with this group, these personnel, there’s no reason why we won't be able to progress rapidly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in overdrive, with staff now at over 400 and planned to attain the objective of 600 members quickly. In addition to their current base at Silverstone, the team are in the phase of building an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are developing the plant to manufacture the 2029 engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex structure, contrary to the direction in F1 for increased consolidation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
Apollo Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” remarked the team principal shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we know how difficult it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of project teams all tackling distinct elements of the project at a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a protocol where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader talks to a supervisor at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” says Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to handle things directly. Moving away from management approval for each action is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be tested in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is no little amount on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
