Approximately a full year previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the official approval as F1's latest entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from scratch has involved a hectic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the season to be held in the United States, with approximately 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are aware there will never be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic operation in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its center from that point and has a amused expression when considering the experience.
“There might be a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and think: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
The CTO had success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in command of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an F1 team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you don’t get the opportunity to alter cultural approach.”
With each passing day that passes focus are sharper on the impending moment of truth in Melbourne and expectations are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon noted this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we show up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team executing the correct procedures on the track. After we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on forward movement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Drive
In late summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a pair remarkable for their priceless expertise in performing at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver echoed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident with this structure, with these individuals, this staff, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in top gear, with employees now up to more than 400 and scheduled to hit the target of six hundred swiftly. Complementing their existing facility at the UK base, the team are in the midst of completing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to produce the power unit, set for the 2029 season – for now they will use power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred to.
Space Mission Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” said the team principal ahead of the British Grand Prix in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how difficult it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management akin to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of project teams all working on distinct elements of the program in a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they report it to their manager, that leader talks to a manager somewhere else, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” notes Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
The Future
The efficacy of this nimble strategy will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
