Just over twelve months in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the official approval as F1's newest participant for 2026. Building the team from scratch has required a frenetic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 converges on the Vegas strip this race weekend, the team understand time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be hosted in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in early 2023 shortly after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center from that point and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the journey.
“You can have a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and think: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he notes. “And then the next minute you consider: ‘Well, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester had success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has quite compared with the challenge of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an grand prix team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you won't have the opportunity to change team culture.”
With every day that goes by minds are more focused on the looming decisive point in Melbourne and targets 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 feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So we arrive and we operate well. We want to show that we’re a proper team performing the correct procedures on the circuit. Once we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Drive
In late summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their invaluable experience in competing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I believe with this structure, with this team, this staff, there’s no reason why we can't manage to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in overdrive, with employees now at more than 400 and scheduled to hit the objective of 600 swiftly. In addition to their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the phase of completing an main base at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the facility to produce the 2029 engine, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a complex structure, different from the trend in F1 for more centralization, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester alluded.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how difficult it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. OK, 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 decentralized management similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of specialist groups all focusing on various components of the project at a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they raise it up to their supervisor, that manager consults a manager in another department, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” explains the CTO. “Therefore we enable people to handle things directly. Avoiding managerial sign-off for each action is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
The Future
The success of this agile approach will be tested in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is a considerable amount at stake for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the young Californian Colton Herta
