A little more than twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent participant for 2026. Constructing the squad from scratch has entailed a frenetic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on Vegas this weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the campaign to be held in the US, with around 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in March 2023 shortly after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart from that point and gets a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get a short period reflecting at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” he notes. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Yeah, there is still a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
The CTO achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the task of bringing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team supported by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an grand prix team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you won't have the opportunity to alter cultural approach.”
With each passing day that elapses minds are more focused on the impending critical moment in Australia and expectations are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon commented this year and while Chester echoed this he felt the squad had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We want to show that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the race track. After we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we want to show forward movement from there on.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Push
In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in operating at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Bottas echoed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be most likely a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I am confident given this organization, with this group, these people, there is every reason that we won't be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to over 400 and scheduled to reach the target of six hundred rapidly. In addition to their current base at Silverstone, the organization are in the phase of building an main base at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the facility to manufacture the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, at odds with the trend in F1 for greater centralisation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” stated Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in July. “We’re realistic, we recognize how tough it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the program in a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a process where an issue arises and they raise it up to their team leader, that supervisor communicates with a manager in another department, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” notes Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to take charge. Eliminating managerial sign-off for everything is so much cleaner and faster.”
The Future
The efficacy of this flexible approach will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a significant degree on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
