Just over one year previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the green light as F1's newest entrant for the 2026 season. Building the organization from scratch has required a hectic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team understand time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the final race of the campaign to be held in the United States, with around a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed team in early 2023 not long after it was formed, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center ever since and gets a knowing grin when thinking about the experience.
“You can have a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Amazing, how impressive what the team has created in under three years,’” Chester states. “But then the following moment you consider: ‘Well, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
The CTO achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical development at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has truly matched the task of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an Formula One team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you don’t get the possibility to alter team culture.”
With every day that passes focus are more focused on the approaching moment of truth in the Australian GP and goals are being managed.
“You have to assume that any new team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal noted recently and while Chester echoed this he thought the team had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we operate well. We want to show that this is a professional operation doing the proper actions on the circuit. Once we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on progression from there on.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Push
In late summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas echoed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe with this structure, with these individuals, this staff, there is every reason that we won't be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in full swing, with staff now at in excess of 400 and intended to hit the target of 600 members quickly. Complementing their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the midst of finishing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to manufacture the new engine, set for 2029 – for now they will run Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a complex organisation, contrary to the trend in Formula One for more centralization, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred to.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” said Lowdon shortly before the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how difficult it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. Well, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of specialist groups all focusing on distinct elements of the mission in a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a process where an issue arises and they report it to their manager, that manager communicates with a manager in another department, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “Therefore we enable team members to take charge. Eliminating management approval for each action is far more efficient and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this flexible approach will be evaluated in the heat of competition next season and there is a significant degree on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
