Just over a full year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the official approval as F1's newest participant for the 2026 season. Building the squad from the ground up has required a hectic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with just over three months to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are conscious there will not be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed operation in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart from that point and enjoys a wry smile when reflecting on the experience.
“There might be a short period looking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he notes. “Then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yes, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, 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 observes. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you rarely get the chance to transform organizational mindset.”
With each day that passes minds are increasingly concentrated on the impending critical moment in Australia and targets are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any new team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon commented earlier this year and while the CTO echoed this he believed the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show improvement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Effort
In late summer they signed Checo Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a duo notable for their vast knowledge in performing at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver reflected the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We have a massive task to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a tough opening, because it is F1. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. In my view with this setup, with this team, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to the front and achieve good results.”
To that end hiring has been in overdrive, with staff now reaching more than 400 and planned to reach the objective of 600 rapidly. Complementing their current base at Silverstone, the team are in the midst of completing an main base at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the center to manufacture the 2029 engine, set for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will use power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, contrary to the direction in F1 for greater centralisation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
Apollo Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how challenging it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all tackling distinct elements of the mission at a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a process where an issue arises and they escalate it to their supervisor, that leader talks to a leader at a different location, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” explains Chester. “So we empower staff to handle things directly. Moving away from management approval for all decisions is far more efficient and faster.”
The Future
The success 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 Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
