Approximately a full year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last given the official approval as the world of Formula One's newest entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the team from scratch has required a frenetic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the season finale of the campaign to be held in the United States, with around 100 days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are aware there will not be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the nascent project in the spring of 2023 not long after it was formed, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core from that point and has a wry smile when thinking about the ride.
“You can have a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we have built in less than three years,’” he says. “And then the very next instant you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Chester achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical development at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the challenge of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a works entry supported by the corporate entity, GM, into F1.
“Establishing an grand prix team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you won't have the chance to change cultural approach.”
With each passing day that goes by focus are sharper on the looming decisive point in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“One must presume that any new team coming in is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal noted this year and while the CTO echoed this he thought the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So we turn up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team performing the right things on the circuit. Once we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on progression from there on.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Push
In late summer they signed Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in performing at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and we expect probably a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with this team, these personnel, there’s no reason why we won't be able to progress rapidly to the front and achieve good results.”
To that end recruitment has been in full swing, with employees now up to in excess of 400 and intended to hit the objective of 600 swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the squad are in the midst of building an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to manufacture the new engine, planned for 2029 – until then they will use Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, contrary to the movement in the sport for greater centralisation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred to.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked the team principal shortly before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how difficult it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of project teams all tackling various components of the project at a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that supervisor consults a leader at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” notes Nick Chester. “So we empower team members to really get on with it. Moving away from management approval for each action is much smoother and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this agile approach will be proven in the heat of competition next season and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
