Just over one year previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the green light as F1's latest entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from nothing has required a frenetic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport descends on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be hosted in the US, with approximately a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed project in early 2023 shortly after it was created, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart from that point and gets a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.
“There might be a brief moment looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” Chester states. “Then the very next instant you realize: ‘Well, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
The CTO had success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the mission of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a factory team sponsored by the parent company, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Building an grand prix team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you rarely get the chance to transform team culture.”
With each day that elapses focus are increasingly concentrated on the impending moment of truth in Melbourne and goals are being managed.
“One must presume that any incoming team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted this year and while Chester shared this view he felt the squad had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender performing the right things on the race track. Once we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Effort
In the summer they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a pair notable for their vast knowledge in operating at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Bottas reflected the attitude of combative optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and we expect probably a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I am confident with this structure, with these individuals, this staff, there’s no reason why we won't be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To that end recruitment has been in full swing, with employees now at over 400 and planned to reach the objective of 600 swiftly. In addition to their current base at the UK base, the organization are in the process of finishing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are developing the center to produce the 2029 engine, planned for the 2029 season – for now they will use Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, at odds with the direction in F1 for greater centralisation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester alluded.
Apollo Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said Lowdon just before the British Grand Prix in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how difficult it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the project in a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their supervisor, that supervisor communicates with a supervisor somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “So we empower people to handle things directly. Moving away from managerial sign-off for each action is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible approach will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their test driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
