A little more than one year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the go-ahead as F1's latest participant for 2026. Building the organization from the ground up has entailed a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 descends on Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the season to be hosted in the US, with just over three months to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are cognizant there will not be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in March 2023 shortly after it was created, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center ever since and enjoys a knowing grin when thinking about the ride.
“There might be a short period thinking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we have built in under three years,’” Chester states. “And then the very next instant you realize: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
The CTO had success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical direction at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has quite compared with the mission of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a works entry backed by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you won't have the chance to change cultural approach.”
With every day that goes by focus are increasingly concentrated on the approaching critical moment in Australia and targets are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad entering the sport is going to be last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted recently and while the CTO shared this view he believed the team had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we show up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender performing the correct procedures on the track. When we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate progression after that.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Push
In late summer they signed Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their racers for 2026, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver reflected the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be probably a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident with this setup, with this group, this staff, there’s no reason why we won't be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in overdrive, with staff now at in excess of 400 and intended to attain the target of 600 members swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the midst of finishing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to build the power unit, scheduled for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will run Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a intricate structure, contrary to the trend in F1 for greater centralisation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO alluded.
Apollo Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said the team principal ahead of the British GP in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of project teams all tackling various components of the project in a different facilities.
“When you must follow a process where an issue arises and they escalate it to their manager, that supervisor communicates with a supervisor at a different location, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes Nick Chester. “So we empower team members to handle things directly. Moving away from management approval for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
The Future
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a significant degree at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
