Approximately one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from scratch has involved a hectic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As Formula One descends on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the season finale of the championship to be held in the US, with approximately three months to go before they take to the track for the first time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic operation in the spring of 2023 soon after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core ever since and gets a knowing grin when thinking about the ride.
“There might be a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in less than three years,’” he notes. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester had success at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the challenge of launching the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an F1 team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you rarely get the opportunity to alter team culture.”
With every day that goes by thoughts are more focused on the approaching critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon noted recently and while the CTO shared this view he felt the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team executing the correct procedures on the race track. After we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we want to show forward movement from there on.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Effort
In the summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a duo remarkable for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the attitude of combative optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be probably a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to finish last. I am confident given this organization, with these individuals, this staff, it's entirely possible we won't be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To that end hiring has been in overdrive, with employees now up to in excess of 400 and planned to hit the target of 600 members swiftly. In addition to their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the midst of building an HQ at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are building the facility to build the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will use Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organization, contrary to the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester alluded.
NASA Model
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” stated Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we know how tough it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all working on various components of the mission across a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that leader communicates with a supervisor somewhere else, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to staff to handle things directly. Eliminating hierarchical consent for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their test driver the emerging American Colton Herta
