A little more than twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last given the official approval as F1's newest entrant for 2026. Constructing the team from nothing has entailed a intense operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with around three months to go before they take to the track for the first time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent project in the spring of 2023 soon after it was formed, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and has a amused expression when reflecting on the experience.
“You can have a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what we have built in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Yes, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester had success at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has truly matched the challenge of launching the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the parent company, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an Formula One team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you rarely get the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that elapses thoughts are more focused on the impending moment of truth in Australia and targets are being managed.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal stated this year and while the CTO shared this view he felt the team had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he says. “So we arrive and we function efficiently. We want to show that we’re a proper team doing the right things on the circuit. Once we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on improvement after that.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Drive
In August they signed Sergio Perez and Bottas as their pilots for the 2026 season, a pair notable for their vast knowledge in competing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the mood of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. In my view with this setup, with these individuals, these personnel, there is every reason that we can't manage to get relatively quickly to the front and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in full swing, with personnel now reaching in excess of 400 and scheduled to hit the objective of 600 members swiftly. Complementing their existing facility at the UK base, the organization are in the phase of completing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are constructing the plant to produce the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – for now they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, at odds with the direction in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
Space Mission Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” remarked Lowdon shortly before the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how challenging it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, rather than the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management similar to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the project at a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their team leader, that supervisor communicates with a supervisor at a different location, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” explains Chester. “So we empower people to handle things directly. Eliminating management approval for everything is so much cleaner and faster.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be proven in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree riding on this for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
