A little more than twelve months ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the team from nothing has required a intense work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One converges on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the final race of the season to be hosted in the US, with approximately three months to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed team in March 2023 soon after it was formed, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart from that point and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.
“You can have a short period looking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in under three years,’” he notes. “And then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yes, we still have a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
The CTO achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has quite compared with the mission of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a factory team supported by the parent company, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Establishing an grand prix team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you don’t get the chance to transform organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that elapses minds are increasingly concentrated on the approaching moment of truth in Australia and goals are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated recently and while the CTO echoed this he felt the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we arrive and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team doing the right things on the circuit. Once we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on improvement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Push
In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a pair remarkable for their invaluable experience in competing at the front in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver reflected the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. In my view with this structure, with this group, these personnel, there’s no reason why we won't be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with staff now at more than 400 and scheduled to hit the goal of 600 quickly. In addition to their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the process of finishing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, planned for the 2029 season – until then they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, different from the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred to.
Apollo Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” stated Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in the summer. “We’re realistic, we recognize how difficult it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of project teams all working on different aspects of the mission at a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a protocol where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their manager, that manager consults a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” says Chester. “We give authority to team members to take charge. Avoiding management approval for all decisions is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible methodology will be proven in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a considerable amount on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have taken on as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
