Just over a full year ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last awarded the official approval as Formula One’s most recent entry for the 2026 season. Building the squad from the ground up has involved a hectic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the season finale of the campaign to be held in the United States, with approximately 100 days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are conscious there will not be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent operation in March 2023 shortly after it was created, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and gets a knowing grin when thinking about the experience.
“You can have a brief moment reflecting at what you’ve done and think: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we have built in under three years,’” he notes. “Then the following moment you consider: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
The CTO achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's title-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in control of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has been quite like the task of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a works entry sponsored by the owner, GM, into Formula One.
“Creating an grand prix team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you won't have the opportunity to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that goes by focus are more focused on the impending critical moment in the Australian GP and expectations are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon stated recently and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the team had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We want to show that we’re a proper team doing the correct procedures on the track. After we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show progression from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Effort
In late summer they contracted Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a tandem notable for their invaluable experience in performing at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver echoed the attitude of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he said. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to finish last. In my view given this organization, with this team, these personnel, there is every reason that we won't be able to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in top gear, with employees now reaching over 400 and planned to hit the objective of 600 rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the squad are in the process of completing an headquarters at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to build the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will use Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate structure, different from the direction in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred to.
Apollo Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said Lowdon just before the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how difficult it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of project teams all tackling various components of the mission in a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a process where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that leader talks to a supervisor somewhere else, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” says Nick Chester. “So we empower people to handle things directly. Avoiding management approval for each action is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile approach will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
