Just over one year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the go-ahead as F1's most recent participant for 2026. Constructing the team from nothing has entailed a frenetic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the season finale of the campaign to be staged in the America, with just over three months to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are cognizant there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed operation in early 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center since then and has a knowing grin when considering the experience.
“There might be a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in under three years,’” Chester states. “But then the next minute you think: ‘Yeah, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Chester achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the challenge of bringing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an Formula One team from nothing, 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 opportunity to alter organizational mindset.”
With each day that passes minds are sharper on the impending moment of truth in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal stated recently and while the CTO shared this view he believed the organization had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “In order that we turn up and we perform competently. We want to show that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the race track. When we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we want to show progression from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push
In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo distinguished for their vast knowledge in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver expressed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and we expect probably a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. In my view with this setup, with this team, this staff, there is every reason that we won't be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to in excess of 400 and intended to attain the objective of 600 rapidly. Complementing their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the midst of building an main base at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to build the power unit, planned for 2029 – until then they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organization, at odds with the direction in F1 for greater centralisation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred to.
Apollo Model
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” said the team principal shortly before the Silverstone race in the summer. “We’re realistic, we recognize how challenging it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, instead of the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of project teams all tackling different aspects of the mission at a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where an issue arises and they raise it up to their manager, that leader communicates with a leader in another department, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to team members to really get on with it. Avoiding managerial sign-off for each action is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible strategy will be tested in the heat of competition next season and there is no little amount at stake for the sport, too. Cadillac have taken on as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
