Just over one year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the official approval as Formula One’s newest entry for 2026. Constructing the squad from nothing has entailed a intense work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the season to be held in the United States, with just over a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent team in March 2023 shortly after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center since then and enjoys a wry smile when thinking about the journey.
“You can have five minutes thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we have built in under three years,’” Chester states. “But then the very next instant you realize: ‘Yes, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
The CTO achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the challenge of introducing the all-American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the owner, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Establishing an Formula One team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you don’t get the possibility to alter cultural approach.”
With each day that passes thoughts are increasingly concentrated on the approaching moment of truth in Melbourne and expectations are being handled.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented earlier this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he believed the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we should be there,” he says. “In order that we show up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation executing the proper actions on the circuit. When we prove that we’re really credible, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Push
In August they recruited Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in competing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to finish last. I believe with this structure, with this team, these people, there is every reason that we won't be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in full swing, with staff now up to in excess of 400 and intended to hit the objective of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the midst of finishing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the facility to produce the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate organization, different from the direction in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” said Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we recognize how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of project teams all working on various components of the project in a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a process where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their supervisor, that supervisor communicates with a manager in another department, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” explains Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to take charge. Moving away from management approval for each action is so much cleaner and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this agile approach will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
