A little more than one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last given the official approval as Formula One’s latest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from scratch has entailed a frenetic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As F1 descends on Vegas this weekend, the team understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the season finale of the season to be held in the America, with around a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are aware there will never be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed operation in early 2023 shortly after it was established, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core from that point and has a amused expression when reflecting on the ride.
“There might be five minutes looking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he says. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
The CTO achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical development at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the task of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the parent company, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an Formula One team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you won't have the opportunity to transform team culture.”
With each passing day that elapses focus are sharper on the looming decisive point in Australia and goals are being managed.
“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon stated this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he believed the team had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation performing the proper actions on the circuit. Once we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Effort
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the attitude of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a difficult start, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I am confident with this structure, with this team, these personnel, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in top gear, with employees now at over 400 and planned to attain the goal of 600 swiftly. Alongside their current base at the UK base, the organization are in the process of completing an main base at Fishers in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to produce the 2029 engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, at odds with the movement in F1 for more centralization, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Chester alluded.
NASA Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” remarked the team principal just before the British GP in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we know how tough it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, rather than the traditional management structure, a decentralized management similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of project teams all working on various components of the mission across a different facilities.
“When you must follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their team leader, that manager consults a leader in another department, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” notes Nick Chester. “We give authority to people to take charge. Eliminating management approval for everything is far more efficient and faster.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this flexible methodology will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is no little amount on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
