Just over twelve months in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last granted the green light as the world of Formula One's latest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from nothing has required a hectic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be held in the US, with just over three months to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed team in March 2023 shortly after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and has a wry smile when reflecting on the experience.
“There might be a brief moment thinking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we have built in less than three years,’” he notes. “But then the next minute you think: ‘Yes, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has quite compared with the challenge of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the owner, General Motors, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you don’t get the possibility to alter cultural approach.”
With every day that goes by thoughts are more focused on the approaching moment of truth in Melbourne and goals are being managed.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad coming in is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon stated recently and while Chester shared this view he thought the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “In order that we show up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team executing the right things on the race track. When we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Effort
In late summer they signed Checo Pérez and Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a duo remarkable for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver echoed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a difficult start, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident with this structure, with these individuals, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in full swing, with personnel now reaching over 400 and intended to attain the objective of 600 swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the team are in the phase of completing an headquarters at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the facility to build the power unit, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will run power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate structure, different from the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester alluded.
Apollo Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how tough it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Well, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, rather than the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all working on different aspects of the program at a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their manager, that supervisor consults a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” notes Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to take charge. Eliminating managerial sign-off for each action is so much cleaner and faster.”
The Future
The effectiveness of this flexible methodology will be evaluated in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
