Just over twelve months ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the official approval as Formula One’s most recent entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from the ground up has required a intense pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One converges on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the season to be held in the US, with approximately 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are aware there will never be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic operation in the spring of 2023 not long after it was established, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart since then and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the experience.
“You might get a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and say: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in under three years,’” he says. “But then the next minute you realize: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has quite compared with the mission of bringing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a works entry supported by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Building an F1 team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you won't have the opportunity to transform organizational mindset.”
With every day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the impending critical moment in Australia and expectations are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any incoming team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he thought the squad had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So we arrive and we operate well. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team performing the right things on the race track. After we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show forward movement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in performing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to finish last. I am confident with this setup, with this team, these people, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in full swing, with employees now at more than 400 and intended to reach the target of 600 members swiftly. Complementing their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the midst of completing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are constructing the plant to produce the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex organisation, at odds with the trend in F1 for more centralization, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred.
Space Mission Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British GP in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how tough it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the project at a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they raise it up to their team leader, that leader talks to a manager in another department, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” explains the CTO. “So we empower staff to handle things directly. Avoiding management approval for each action is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this nimble approach will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is no little amount at stake for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
