Approximately a full year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last given the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from scratch has involved a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the last event of the campaign to be hosted in the America, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are aware there will not be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in March 2023 soon after it was formed, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a knowing grin when considering the ride.
“You might get a short period looking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Yes, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has been quite like the mission of introducing the all-American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the owner, General Motors, into F1.
“Establishing an F1 team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you rarely get the possibility to change team culture.”
With each passing day that goes by thoughts are more focused on the impending moment of truth in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal noted recently and while the CTO echoed this he believed the team had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So we turn up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the race track. After we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on progression subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Effort
In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their invaluable experience in performing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We have a massive task to do, and it’s going to be probably a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I am confident with this setup, with this group, these personnel, there’s no reason why we won't be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in top gear, with staff now at over 400 and planned to attain the objective of six hundred quickly. In addition to their present headquarters at Silverstone, the team are in the process of finishing an main base at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to produce the new engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a complex organisation, contrary to the trend in the sport for more centralization, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” remarked the team principal just before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We’re realistic, we understand how difficult it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, instead of the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all tackling different aspects of the project across a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a process where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their supervisor, that leader talks to a manager somewhere else, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “Therefore we enable team members to really get on with it. Moving away from hierarchical consent for each action is far more efficient and faster.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this agile strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree riding on this for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
