Approximately twelve months in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the go-ahead as F1's most recent entrant for 2026. Establishing the team from nothing has required a intense pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on Vegas this weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the final race of the campaign to be hosted in the United States, with around a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic team in March 2023 not long after it was created, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its core since then and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get a short period thinking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in under three years,’” he says. “But then the very next instant you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the challenge of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a factory team backed by the parent company, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an Formula One team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you rarely get the chance to alter cultural approach.”
With each day that goes by minds are more focused on the approaching critical moment in Melbourne and targets are being handled.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” the team principal noted this year and while the CTO echoed this he believed the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the race track. When we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate improvement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Push
In late summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a pair remarkable for their vast knowledge in operating at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Bottas expressed the attitude of combative optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because it is F1. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe with this setup, with these individuals, these people, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in full swing, with staff now at in excess of 400 and planned to attain the target of 600 quickly. Complementing their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the phase of completing an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the center to produce the new engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will use Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a complex organization, contrary to the trend in F1 for more centralization, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Model
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a decentralized management akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all focusing on various components of the project in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their supervisor, that manager talks to a leader at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” explains the CTO. “So we empower staff to take charge. Moving away from management approval for each action is much smoother and more rapid.”
The Future
The effectiveness of this agile methodology will be proven in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a considerable amount at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
