Approximately a full year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the green light as F1's most recent participant for 2026. Constructing the squad from the ground up has entailed a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One descends on Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the final race of the campaign to be held in the US, with around a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will not be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed operation in early 2023 not long after it was created, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart since then and has a amused expression when considering the ride.
“There might be a brief moment looking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in under three years,’” he notes. “And then the next minute you consider: ‘Yes, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious seasons of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical direction at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team backed by the owner, GM, into Formula One.
“Establishing an Formula One team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you rarely get the possibility to alter cultural approach.”
With each day that passes thoughts are more focused on the approaching decisive point in Australia and expectations are being handled.
“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal noted this year and while the CTO shared this view he felt the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we show up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender performing the proper actions on the circuit. Once we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we will focus on forward movement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Push
In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a pair notable for their invaluable experience in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to stay at the back. In my view with this setup, with this group, this staff, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to the front and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with personnel now at in excess of 400 and scheduled to attain the target of six hundred rapidly. In addition to their current base at Silverstone, the squad are in the process of building an HQ at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are developing the plant to manufacture the new engine, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the movement in the sport for more centralization, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Chester referred to.
Space Mission Model
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” remarked Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we understand how challenging it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all working on distinct elements of the program in a different facilities.
“When you must follow a procedure where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their team leader, that leader communicates with a supervisor somewhere else, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes Chester. “So we empower people to really get on with it. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
The Future
The success of this agile methodology will be evaluated in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
