Just over a full year ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the official approval as F1's latest participant for 2026. Building the squad from scratch has entailed a hectic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One descends on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the championship to be staged in the America, with just over three months to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are conscious there will not be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent project in early 2023 soon after it was formed, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its core from that point and enjoys a wry smile when reflecting on the experience.
“There might be a short period reflecting at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in under three years,’” he notes. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Well, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
The CTO enjoyed success at Renault in Alonso's championship-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a factory team backed by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Building an Formula One team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you don’t get the opportunity to alter cultural approach.”
With each day that passes focus are sharper on the approaching decisive point in the Australian GP and expectations are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad entering the sport is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon commented earlier this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the team had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we show up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the race track. After we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on improvement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Push
In the summer they contracted Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a tandem notable for their invaluable experience in operating at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the mood of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We have a mountain of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. In my view with this setup, with these individuals, these personnel, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in full swing, with staff now up to over 400 and scheduled to hit the objective of 600 rapidly. Alongside their current base at the UK base, the squad are in the process of finishing an headquarters at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are constructing the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a complex organisation, contrary to the movement in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
Apollo Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” said the team principal just before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we know how difficult it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all focusing on different aspects of the program in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where an issue arises and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader consults a leader in another department, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” says Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to handle things directly. Avoiding hierarchical consent for all decisions is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this flexible methodology will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
