Just over one year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the green light as Formula One’s most recent entrant for 2026. Establishing the team from the ground up has involved a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the season finale of the season to be hosted in the United States, with around 100 days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed operation in early 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core since then and enjoys a amused expression when considering the journey.
“There might be a brief moment reflecting at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in less than three years,’” he notes. “But then the following moment you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical development at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the task of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you rarely get the opportunity to transform cultural approach.”
With each passing day that goes by minds are more focused on the looming moment of truth in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“You have to assume that any incoming team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal stated this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “In order that we show up and we operate well. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team performing the right things on the track. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate improvement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Drive
In late summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for the 2026 season, a pair distinguished for their vast knowledge in performing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Bottas expressed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he said. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to finish last. In my view with this setup, with this team, this staff, it's entirely possible we can't manage to progress rapidly to the front and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in top gear, with staff now at in excess of 400 and scheduled to reach the goal of 600 quickly. Complementing their present headquarters at the UK base, the squad are in the midst of completing an HQ at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to produce the power unit, planned for 2029 – for now they will use Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, different from the trend in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Chester referred.
Space Mission Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how tough it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all tackling different aspects of the project in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where someone has a problem and they report it to their supervisor, that leader consults a supervisor at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” says Nick Chester. “We give authority to people to take charge. Avoiding managerial sign-off for each action is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile methodology will be tested in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is no little amount on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
