Just over one year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last granted the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's latest entrant for 2026. Constructing the organization from nothing has required a frenetic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One descends on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the season to be held in the America, with around a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed project in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core from that point and gets a knowing grin when thinking about the experience.
“You can have a short period thinking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in under three years,’” he notes. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Yeah, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the owner, GM, into F1.
“Creating an grand prix team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you rarely get the possibility to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that passes focus are more focused on the looming critical moment in Australia and expectations are being managed.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while the CTO shared this view he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So we arrive and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender executing the proper actions on the circuit. Once we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Push
In the summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a pair remarkable for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident with this setup, with these individuals, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in top gear, with employees now at in excess of 400 and scheduled to attain the goal of 600 swiftly. Complementing their existing facility at the UK base, the team are in the phase of building an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the center to build the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – for now they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex organisation, different from the trend in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred to.
Apollo Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said the team principal shortly before the British GP in the summer. “We’re realistic, we know how tough it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all working on distinct elements of the program across a different facilities.
“When you must follow a process where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their supervisor, that supervisor talks to a manager somewhere else, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” says the CTO. “We give authority to people to take charge. Moving away from management approval for each action is much smoother and quicker.”
The Future
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be proven in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their development driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
