Just over one year ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent participant for 2026. Establishing the team from scratch has involved a frenetic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As the sport converges on Vegas this weekend, the team know time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the season to be staged in the America, with around three months to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are cognizant there will not be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the nascent team in the spring of 2023 not long after it was formed, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core ever since and gets a amused expression when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get a short period looking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in less than three years,’” he notes. “And then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical development at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the corporate entity, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an F1 team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you rarely get the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that passes focus are sharper on the approaching critical moment in the Australian GP and expectations are being managed.
“One must presume that any new team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal stated this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the team had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we should be there,” he says. “In order that we turn up and we function efficiently. We want to show that this is a professional operation performing the correct procedures on the circuit. Once we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we will focus on progression from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push
In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a duo notable for their priceless expertise in performing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to finish last. In my view with this setup, with this team, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with staff now at in excess of 400 and intended to reach the goal of 600 members quickly. Complementing their present headquarters at the UK base, the organization are in the phase of finishing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to build the new engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will use Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated structure, at odds with the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester alluded.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” said Lowdon just before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of project teams all tackling various components of the project in a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a process where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their team leader, that leader consults a supervisor somewhere else, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” notes Chester. “We give authority to people to take charge. Eliminating management approval for everything is far more efficient and faster.”
The Future
The effectiveness of this nimble approach will be evaluated in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is no little amount on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
