Approximately a full year previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the official approval as F1's most recent entrant for 2026. Building the team from nothing has involved a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport descends on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the campaign to be staged in the America, with just over a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed operation in early 2023 soon after it was formed, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart ever since and enjoys a wry smile when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get five minutes thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yes, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
The CTO achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical direction at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the task of launching the all-American Cadillac brand, a works entry sponsored by the parent company, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Establishing an grand prix team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you don’t get the chance to alter team culture.”
With each passing day that elapses thoughts are more focused on the looming decisive point in the Australian GP and targets are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal commented earlier this year and while Chester echoed this he thought the team had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we turn up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we are a serious contender executing the right things on the circuit. After we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Drive
In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their priceless expertise in performing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because it is F1. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe with this setup, with this group, these personnel, it's entirely possible we won't be able to get relatively quickly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with staff now at more than 400 and planned to reach the goal of 600 members quickly. Complementing their existing facility at the UK base, the squad are in the process of completing an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to produce the power unit, planned for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organisation, contrary to the movement in the sport for more centralization, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred to.
NASA Inspiration
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” said Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how tough it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of specialist groups all focusing on distinct elements of the project across a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a process where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their team leader, that leader talks to a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” says the CTO. “So we empower team members to take charge. Avoiding management approval for each action is far more efficient and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this agile methodology will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
