Approximately twelve months in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's newest entry for 2026. Constructing the organization from nothing has required a hectic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the season finale of the championship to be held in the US, with just over a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are aware there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic project in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and enjoys a knowing grin when considering the experience.
“You might get a short period looking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in less than three years,’” he notes. “And then the very next instant you consider: ‘Well, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the task of introducing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a works entry sponsored by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Building an grand prix team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you don’t get the opportunity to transform cultural approach.”
With each passing day that goes by focus are increasingly concentrated on the impending critical moment in Melbourne and expectations are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad entering the sport is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated recently and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he believed the squad had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So we arrive and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation doing the correct procedures on the track. Once we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we will focus on forward movement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In late summer they signed Checo Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their vast knowledge in performing at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and the Mercedes team, and Bottas reflected the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and we expect most likely a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I believe with this structure, with this team, these people, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with personnel now reaching in excess of 400 and scheduled to attain the target of 600 rapidly. Alongside their present headquarters at the UK base, the squad are in the phase of building an headquarters at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are constructing the facility to produce the new engine, planned for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organisation, at odds with the movement in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Model
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” remarked Lowdon just before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how difficult it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, instead of the traditional management structure, a decentralized management similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all working on different aspects of the mission in a different facilities.
“When you must follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that manager talks to a supervisor at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” explains Nick Chester. “So we empower team members to really get on with it. Moving away from hierarchical consent for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this nimble methodology will be tested in the heat of competition next season and there is a considerable amount at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
