Approximately twelve months in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last awarded the go-ahead as F1's latest entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the team from nothing has entailed a frenetic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the season finale of the season to be held in the US, with approximately a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are cognizant there will never be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent project in March 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its center from that point and gets a wry smile when reflecting on the ride.
“There might be a brief moment thinking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “But then the next minute you think: ‘Well, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
The CTO enjoyed success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical development at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has quite compared with the task of launching the all-American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an grand prix team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you don’t get the chance to transform cultural approach.”
With each day that elapses minds are more focused on the approaching decisive point in Melbourne and goals are being handled.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad coming in is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Chester echoed this he believed the team had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation executing the proper actions on the race track. After we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate progression subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Effort
In August they signed Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair notable for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Bottas echoed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a difficult start, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident with this setup, with these individuals, this staff, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to the front and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in top gear, with employees now reaching more than 400 and intended to attain the goal of 600 members quickly. In addition to their current base at Silverstone, the squad are in the midst of finishing an HQ at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are building the plant to build the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will use Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a complex organisation, different from the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Chester referred to.
Apollo Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” remarked Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in July. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how difficult it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, rather than the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of project teams all working on various components of the program in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where an issue arises and they raise it up to their manager, that supervisor talks to a supervisor in another department, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” says Nick Chester. “We give authority to people to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this flexible approach will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is no little amount on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
