A little more than twelve months in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last granted the official approval as F1's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from nothing has involved a intense operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the last event of the campaign to be staged in the America, with approximately three months to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are aware there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic team in early 2023 soon after it was created, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core ever since and gets a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get five minutes thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what the team has created in under three years,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Yeah, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical development at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the mission of bringing the all-American Cadillac brand, a factory team supported by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Establishing an Formula One team from nothing, 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 chance to transform cultural approach.”
With every day that elapses minds are sharper on the looming moment of truth in Australia and expectations are being managed.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad coming in is going to be last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon noted earlier this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he believed the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “In order that we turn up and we operate well. We want to show that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the track. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Effort
In August they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We have a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I believe given this organization, with this team, these personnel, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in overdrive, with staff now at more than 400 and intended to reach the target of 600 members quickly. Alongside their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the process of building an main base at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to produce the power unit, set for the 2029 season – for now they will use Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a intricate structure, at odds with the direction in F1 for greater centralisation, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO alluded.
NASA Model
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” said Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in July. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how tough it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of project teams all working on various components of the mission across a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their supervisor, that leader consults a manager at a different location, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” says Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to really get on with it. Moving away from hierarchical consent for all decisions is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this flexible strategy will be proven in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for F1, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
