Just over a full year previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's newest entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the team from nothing has required a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As the sport arrives on the Vegas strip this race weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be hosted in the United States, with just over a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent project in March 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart since then and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the journey.
“There might be a short period reflecting at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Wow, how impressive what we have built in less than three years,’” he says. “And then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the challenge of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into F1.
“Building an Formula One team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you won't have the opportunity to transform organizational mindset.”
With every day that passes focus are more focused on the looming critical moment in the Australian GP and expectations are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon commented earlier this year and while the CTO shared this view he believed the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “So we arrive and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the track. When we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate progression after that.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Effort
In August they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the front in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he said. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to finish last. I believe with this setup, with this group, these people, there is every reason that we can't manage to get relatively quickly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To that end recruitment has been in overdrive, with personnel now at over 400 and intended to reach the goal of 600 members quickly. In addition to their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the midst of finishing an HQ at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the facility to produce the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, contrary to the movement in the sport for greater centralisation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” stated Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how challenging it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, instead of the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all focusing on various components of the project at a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a procedure where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their manager, that supervisor communicates with a manager somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to staff to handle things directly. Moving away from managerial sign-off for everything is far more efficient 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. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
