Approximately twelve months ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the official approval as F1's latest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from scratch has entailed a hectic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 converges on Vegas this weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the season to be hosted in the United States, with around 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will never be sufficient time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in the spring of 2023 not long after it was formed, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and has a wry smile when reflecting on the journey.
“You might get a short period looking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we have built in less than three years,’” he notes. “And then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious years of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the owner, GM, into Formula One.
“Establishing an grand prix team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you rarely get the chance to alter cultural approach.”
With every day that goes by focus are increasingly concentrated on the looming decisive point in Australia and targets are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad coming in is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal stated earlier this year and while Chester shared this view he felt the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation doing the right things on the circuit. Once we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on improvement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Drive
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a tandem notable for their priceless expertise in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I am confident with this setup, with these individuals, this staff, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in full swing, with personnel now reaching more than 400 and intended to reach the target of 600 quickly. Alongside their present headquarters at Silverstone, the organization are in the process of building an HQ at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are building the facility to build the 2029 engine, planned for the 2029 season – until then they will use Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organisation, at odds with the direction in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which the CTO alluded.
Apollo Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said Graeme Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we understand how tough it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of project teams all tackling different aspects of the program in a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a process where a challenge emerges and they report it to their supervisor, that manager communicates with a manager in another department, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” says the CTO. “We give authority to people to take charge. Avoiding managerial sign-off for everything is far more efficient and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible methodology will be tested in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
