A little more than a full year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the go-ahead as F1's most recent entrant for 2026. Constructing the team from scratch has involved a intense work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the season to be hosted in the America, with just over 100 days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are cognizant there will never be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent team in March 2023 not long after it was formed, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a amused expression when thinking about the experience.
“You might get a brief moment thinking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “And then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yeah, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the task of launching the all-American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the corporate entity, GM, into Formula One.
“Building an grand prix team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you don’t get the chance to alter cultural approach.”
With each passing day that goes by thoughts are increasingly concentrated on the approaching decisive point in Australia and expectations are being handled.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon noted recently and while the CTO shared this view he thought the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we turn up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team executing the correct procedures on the circuit. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on improvement after that.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Push
In August they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a pair remarkable for their priceless expertise in performing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and we expect most likely a difficult start, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I am confident given this organization, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we won't be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in top gear, with personnel now up to in excess of 400 and scheduled to hit the objective of 600 members swiftly. In addition to their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the process of finishing an main base at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are building the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will use Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a intricate organisation, different from the trend in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which the CTO alluded.
NASA Model
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we understand how tough it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of project teams all tackling various components of the mission in a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they escalate it to their team leader, that leader consults a manager at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” explains Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable people to really get on with it. Moving away from management approval for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
The Future
The efficacy of this nimble strategy will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
