A little more than a full year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the green light as F1's newest participant for the 2026 season. Building the squad from nothing has required a intense operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the season finale of the campaign to be hosted in the United States, with around 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing 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 task, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the nascent team in early 2023 shortly after it was created, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and gets a wry smile when considering the ride.
“There might be a brief moment thinking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Yes, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Alonso's victorious seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the task of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the parent company, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Creating an F1 team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you don’t get the chance to alter team culture.”
With each passing day that goes by focus are more focused on the approaching critical moment in Melbourne and expectations are being managed.
“One must presume that any incoming team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon noted this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the organization had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So we arrive and we function efficiently. We want to show that this is a professional operation doing the right things on the circuit. After we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show improvement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Drive
In August they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a pair notable 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 expressed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We face a massive task to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a difficult start, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I am confident with this structure, with this group, these personnel, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in full swing, with personnel now at in excess of 400 and intended to attain the target of 600 members quickly. In addition to their present headquarters at the UK base, the squad are in the process of finishing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to manufacture the power unit, planned for 2029 – until then they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, different from the movement in F1 for more centralization, and has led to the innovative team culture to which the CTO alluded.
NASA Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” remarked the team principal ahead of the Silverstone race in July. “We are pragmatic, we know how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of project teams all focusing on different aspects of the project in a different facilities.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they escalate it to their manager, that supervisor consults a manager somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” says Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to handle things directly. Moving away from management approval for each action is so much cleaner and quicker.”
The Future
The success of this flexible strategy will be evaluated in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is no little amount riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
