Just over a full year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the official approval as the world of Formula One's latest participant for 2026. Constructing the squad from the ground up has required a intense pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be held in the America, with approximately three months to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed operation in the spring of 2023 not long after it was formed, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart from that point and gets a wry smile when reflecting on the journey.
“There might be a brief moment looking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what the team has created in under three years,’” Chester states. “Then the following moment you consider: ‘Well, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the mission of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a factory team sponsored by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you rarely get the opportunity to change team culture.”
With each passing day that elapses minds are more focused on the looming critical moment in Australia and targets are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any new team coming in is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal noted earlier this year and while the CTO shared this view he felt the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation doing the right things on the circuit. Once we prove that our credentials are solid, then we want to show progression subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Drive
In the summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in performing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Bottas reflected the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he said. “We face a massive task to do, and it’s going to be probably a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we’re not there to stay at the back. In my view with this setup, with these individuals, this staff, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in overdrive, with employees now up to in excess of 400 and planned to reach the target of 600 swiftly. Complementing their present headquarters at the UK base, the team are in the phase of building an HQ at Fishers in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are constructing the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, at odds with the trend in F1 for greater centralisation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” said the team principal just before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how tough it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of specialist groups all focusing on various components of the mission across a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they raise it up to their team leader, that leader consults a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” explains Chester. “Therefore we enable people to take charge. Moving away from management approval for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile approach will be evaluated in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
