Approximately a full year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the official approval as F1's most recent entrant for 2026. Constructing the organization from the ground up has required a intense pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 arrives on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the championship to be held in the US, with around a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are conscious there will not be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed operation in the spring of 2023 not long after it was formed, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart since then and has a amused expression when reflecting on the journey.
“There might be a brief moment looking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in under three years,’” he notes. “Then the following moment you realize: ‘Yeah, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Chester had success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the challenge of bringing the all-American Cadillac marque, a works entry sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Building an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you rarely get the possibility to transform team culture.”
With each day that goes by focus are more focused on the impending moment of truth in Melbourne and expectations are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team coming in is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated recently and while the CTO echoed this he felt the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “In order that we turn up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender executing the right things on the track. Once we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show forward movement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Push
In August they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo remarkable for their vast knowledge in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We have a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be probably a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I am confident given this organization, with these individuals, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in full swing, with staff now reaching more than 400 and intended to attain the objective of 600 quickly. Alongside their present headquarters at the UK base, the organization are in the process of building an headquarters at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are developing the plant to produce the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will run Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organization, contrary to the direction in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in July. “We’re realistic, we know how challenging it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure similar to that of NASA's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all working on various components of the program at a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a process where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their team leader, that manager communicates with a leader somewhere else, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” explains Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to really get on with it. Eliminating managerial sign-off for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible approach will be tested in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a considerable amount at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
