A little more than one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately granted the green light as F1's newest participant for 2026. Building the squad from scratch has entailed a hectic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Australia
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 maiden outing in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are aware there will never be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent operation in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center ever since and has a amused expression when thinking about the ride.
“You can have a brief moment reflecting at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Yes, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has been quite like the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team backed by the owner, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Building an grand prix team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you rarely get the opportunity to change organizational mindset.”
With each day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the impending moment of truth in the Australian GP and goals are being managed.
“You have to assume that any new team coming in is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon noted this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he believed the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So we turn up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we are a serious contender executing the right things on the track. Once we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate improvement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Effort
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Bottas reflected the attitude of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he said. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident with this structure, with this group, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To that end hiring has been in top gear, with staff now reaching over 400 and intended to hit the goal of 600 members swiftly. In addition to their present headquarters at the UK base, the squad are in the midst of building an HQ at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are constructing the facility to build the new engine, set for the 2029 season – for now they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organisation, contrary to the direction in the sport for increased consolidation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” said Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how difficult it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, instead of the traditional management structure, a decentralized management similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all working on distinct elements of the mission across a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader communicates with a supervisor at a different location, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” says the CTO. “Therefore we enable staff to really get on with it. Avoiding management approval for everything is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this flexible methodology will be evaluated in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
