Just over twelve months in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the green light as the world of Formula One's most recent entry for 2026. Constructing the squad from the ground up has involved a hectic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 descends on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the season finale of the season to be held in the United States, with approximately three months to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are aware there will never be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in early 2023 soon after it was created, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core since then and has a amused expression when reflecting on the experience.
“You might get a short period thinking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “But then the next minute you realize: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
The CTO achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical development at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has been quite like the mission of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a works entry sponsored by the corporate entity, GM, into F1.
“Creating an F1 team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you don’t get the chance to transform team culture.”
With each passing day that elapses focus are sharper on the approaching decisive point in Australia and expectations are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad joining the grid is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon noted earlier this year and while the CTO echoed this he felt the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So that we turn up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation performing the correct procedures on the race track. Once we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we want to show progression from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Drive
In August they signed Checo Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for the 2026 season, a tandem distinguished for their vast knowledge in competing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Bottas reflected the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe given this organization, with these individuals, these people, it's entirely possible we can't manage to advance swiftly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in full swing, with employees now up to more than 400 and scheduled to reach the goal of 600 quickly. Complementing their current base at the UK base, the team are in the process of completing an headquarters at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the center to build the power unit, set for the 2029 season – until then they will run power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, at odds with the movement in F1 for greater centralisation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred.
NASA Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” remarked the team principal shortly before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how challenging it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all working on various components of the mission at a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they raise it up to their supervisor, that manager consults a leader at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” notes Nick Chester. “We give authority to staff to really get on with it. Moving away from managerial sign-off for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
The Future
The efficacy of this agile approach will be evaluated in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the young American Colton Herta
