Just over one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the green light as F1's latest entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from nothing has entailed a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the campaign to be hosted in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in the spring of 2023 soon after it was created, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its core from that point and gets a amused expression when considering the journey.
“You can have a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Yes, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
The CTO achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has quite compared with the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the owner, GM, into F1.
“Building an F1 team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you won't have the chance to change team culture.”
With each day that goes by thoughts are increasingly concentrated on the looming moment of truth in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“You have to assume that any new team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon noted this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he believed the organization had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “In order that we turn up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation performing the proper actions on the circuit. Once we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on improvement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Effort
In August they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be probably a tough opening, because it is F1. But we’re not there to finish last. I believe with this setup, with these individuals, these personnel, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to the front and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in top gear, with staff now reaching in excess of 400 and scheduled to attain the goal of 600 members rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the team are in the process of building an headquarters at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are developing the center to manufacture the power unit, set for 2029 – for now they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, different from the direction in the sport for increased consolidation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester alluded.
Apollo Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said the team principal just before the Silverstone race in July. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how difficult it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Well, 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 non-hierarchical approach akin to that of NASA's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the program across a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a protocol where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their manager, that leader communicates with a leader in another department, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” explains Chester. “We give authority to people to take charge. Moving away from managerial sign-off for all decisions is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this agile methodology will be proven in the heat of competition next season and there is no little amount at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
