Approximately a full year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last given the green light as F1's newest entrant for 2026. Constructing the squad from nothing has involved a frenetic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the season finale of the campaign to be hosted in the America, with just over a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed project in March 2023 soon after it was formed, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart since then and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the experience.
“There might be a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and think: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Yes, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Nick Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has been quite like the task of bringing the all-American Cadillac marque, a factory team sponsored by the owner, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Building an Formula One team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you rarely get the chance to transform organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that passes thoughts are more focused on the impending decisive point in Australia and targets are being managed.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is going to be last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated recently and while Chester echoed this he felt the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So we turn up and we operate well. We want to show that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the track. When we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate improvement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Effort
In the summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a duo remarkable for their priceless expertise in competing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. In my view with this structure, with this team, these personnel, there’s no reason why we can't manage to progress rapidly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in full swing, with personnel now reaching in excess of 400 and intended to reach the goal of 600 members quickly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the team are in the midst of completing an headquarters at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a complex organisation, at odds with the trend in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” remarked Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all working on different aspects of the project across a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a process where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their supervisor, that manager consults a leader at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” explains Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to really get on with it. Avoiding management approval for all decisions is much smoother and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this nimble methodology will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
