Just over twelve months in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the green light as F1's latest entry for 2026. Building the squad from scratch has entailed a hectic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on Vegas this race weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the championship to be staged in the United States, with approximately 100 days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic operation in March 2023 not long after it was formed, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and gets a wry smile when considering the experience.
“There might be five minutes reflecting at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we have built in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Well, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the task of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a works entry supported by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Establishing an grand prix team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you rarely get the chance to transform organizational mindset.”
With each day that goes by minds are more focused on the approaching decisive point in Australia and goals are being set realistically.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon commented earlier this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “In order that we arrive and we operate well. We want to show that this is a professional operation doing the correct procedures on the race track. Once we prove that our credentials are solid, then we want to show forward movement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Drive
In the summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Bottas as their pilots for the 2026 season, a tandem notable for their priceless expertise in performing at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Bottas echoed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident given this organization, with these individuals, this staff, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in top gear, with staff now reaching more than 400 and scheduled to hit the target of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the midst of completing an HQ at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are constructing the plant to manufacture the new engine, set for the 2029 season – for now they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organization, different from the trend in F1 for more centralization, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” stated the team principal ahead of the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how difficult it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Well, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all focusing on various components of the program at a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their supervisor, that supervisor consults a supervisor somewhere else, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to handle things directly. Avoiding management approval for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
The Future
The efficacy of this agile approach will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is no little amount at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
