A little more than one year ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the official approval as Formula One’s latest entry for 2026. Establishing the team from nothing has entailed a frenetic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 converges on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with around three months to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic operation in early 2023 shortly after it was established, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its center since then and gets a knowing grin when reflecting on the experience.
“You can have a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and think: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Chester achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the task of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Building an grand prix team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you don’t get the possibility to change organizational mindset.”
With each day that goes by focus are more focused on the impending decisive point in Australia and goals are being handled.
“One must presume that any new team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon commented recently and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the organization had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So we arrive and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender performing the correct procedures on the circuit. When we prove that we’re really credible, then we want to show progression after that.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Push
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for the 2026 season, a duo distinguished for their vast knowledge in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to finish last. I believe given this organization, with this group, this staff, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in full swing, with personnel now at in excess of 400 and intended to reach the objective of 600 members swiftly. Complementing their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the process of building an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the center to produce the power unit, set for the 2029 season – until then they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organization, at odds with the direction in F1 for more centralization, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Chester referred.
Apollo Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” remarked the team principal shortly before the British Grand Prix in July. “We’re realistic, we know how tough it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of project teams all focusing on different aspects of the project in a different facilities.
“When you must follow a process where an issue arises and they escalate it to their supervisor, that manager consults a leader somewhere else, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” says Chester. “We give authority to team members to handle things directly. Avoiding management approval for all decisions is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a significant degree riding on this for F1, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
