Approximately a full year previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the green light as F1's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from scratch has involved a frenetic operating tempo that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As F1 descends on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be held in the United States, with approximately a hundred days to go before they take to the track 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 never-ending endeavor, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent project in March 2023 not long after it was created, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart ever since and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the journey.
“You might get a brief moment thinking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
The CTO had success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical development at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into F1.
“Establishing an Formula One team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you won't have the chance to alter team culture.”
With each passing day that elapses thoughts are increasingly concentrated on the impending critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being handled.
“One must presume that any new team coming in is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal noted this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he believed the squad had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So we show up and we operate well. We want to show that this is a professional operation performing the correct procedures on the race track. When we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push
In August they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a pair notable for their priceless expertise in performing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We have a massive task to do, and it’s going to be most likely a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I believe given this organization, with this group, these people, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with personnel now reaching over 400 and intended to reach the goal of 600 swiftly. Alongside their present headquarters at Silverstone, the squad are in the phase of finishing an main base at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to produce the 2029 engine, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will use Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, different from the direction in F1 for greater centralisation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” said Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how tough it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of project teams all focusing on different aspects of the program at a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a process where someone has a problem and they report it to their supervisor, that leader communicates with a leader somewhere else, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes Chester. “We give authority to people to take charge. Avoiding managerial sign-off for everything is far more efficient and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this flexible strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a significant degree riding on this for F1, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their test driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
