Just over one year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's latest entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from the ground up has involved a frenetic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the last event of the season to be hosted in the US, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed operation in early 2023 soon after it was established, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart from that point and enjoys a amused expression when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get a short period reflecting at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “Then the following moment you consider: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into F1.
“Establishing an Formula One team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you don’t get the opportunity to alter cultural approach.”
With every day that elapses minds are sharper on the impending critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being handled.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon noted recently and while Chester shared this view he believed the team had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “So we show up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation doing the proper actions on the track. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we want to show improvement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Effort
In the summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in competing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver reflected the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and we expect most likely a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident given this organization, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in top gear, with employees now up to over 400 and planned to attain the target of 600 members rapidly. Complementing their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the phase of completing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are building the facility to build the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will run power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex structure, contrary to the movement in F1 for greater centralisation, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which the CTO alluded.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” stated Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how difficult it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a decentralized management similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of project teams all working on distinct elements of the mission at a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a process where an issue arises and they raise it up to their manager, that manager communicates with a leader in another department, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to staff to take charge. Avoiding managerial sign-off for everything is far more efficient and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a considerable amount on the line for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
