Approximately a full year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the go-ahead as F1's latest entry for 2026. Constructing the squad from nothing has required a hectic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 descends on Las Vegas this weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the season finale of the championship to be staged in the America, with just over 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are conscious there will not be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in the spring of 2023 not long after it was formed, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart ever since and gets a wry smile when considering the journey.
“You might get a brief moment reflecting at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he says. “And then the next minute you consider: ‘Yes, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Chester had success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a works entry sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Creating an F1 team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you rarely get the possibility to change organizational mindset.”
With each day that passes minds are sharper on the impending moment of truth in the Australian GP and goals are being handled.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal noted earlier this year and while Chester echoed this he felt the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we operate well. We want to show that we’re a proper team doing the proper actions on the race track. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we want to show forward movement from there on.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Effort
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their racers for 2026, a duo distinguished for their priceless expertise in competing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We have a massive task to do, and it will likely be most likely a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I believe given this organization, with this team, this staff, there is every reason that we can't manage to get relatively quickly to the front and achieve good results.”
To that end hiring has been in overdrive, with employees now reaching more than 400 and intended to attain the objective of six hundred rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the organization are in the process of completing an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to build the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – until then they will use power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organization, contrary to the direction in F1 for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred.
NASA Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked the team principal just before the British GP in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how tough it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, instead of the traditional management structure, a flat management structure comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all focusing on different aspects of the program at a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a process where a challenge emerges and they report it to their supervisor, that leader communicates with a supervisor at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” says Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to handle things directly. Eliminating managerial sign-off for each action is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this agile methodology will be evaluated in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is no little amount on the line for F1, too. Cadillac have taken on as their test driver the emerging American Colton Herta
