A little more than one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately granted the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from nothing has involved a intense pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As the sport converges on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the season finale of the season to be hosted in the US, with just over 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic project in early 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its center from that point and gets a wry smile when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get five minutes looking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he says. “And then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning years of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical development at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the challenge of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the owner, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Building an F1 team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you won't have the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that passes focus are more focused on the approaching decisive point in Australia and targets are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any new team coming in is going to be last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented recently and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he felt the team had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we turn up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the race track. After we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we want to show improvement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Push
In late summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in competing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he said. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be probably a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to finish last. I believe with this setup, with this team, these personnel, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and taste victory.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in full swing, with employees now at in excess of 400 and intended to hit the target of 600 rapidly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the team are in the midst of building an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are building the plant to produce the new engine, planned for 2029 – until then they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate structure, contrary to the direction in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” stated Graeme Lowdon just before the British GP in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how challenging it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of specialist groups all focusing on various components of the mission in a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a procedure where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their supervisor, that manager talks to a manager in another department, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “Therefore we enable staff to really get on with it. Eliminating hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible strategy will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is no little amount on the line for F1, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
