Approximately one year previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the go-ahead as F1's latest entrant for 2026. Constructing the squad from scratch has entailed a frenetic operating tempo that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As F1 descends on the Vegas strip this race weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the championship to be staged in the America, with just over 100 days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed operation in early 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.
“There might be a brief moment thinking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the mission of introducing the all-American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you don’t get the possibility to transform team culture.”
With each day that passes minds are sharper on the looming decisive point in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated recently and while Nick Chester echoed this he believed the team had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender performing the proper actions on the circuit. Once we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate progression after that.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Drive
In the summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a duo remarkable for their invaluable experience in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I am confident with this structure, with this group, this staff, it's entirely possible we can't manage to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in full swing, with employees now at in excess of 400 and intended to reach the objective of 600 rapidly. In addition to their present headquarters at Silverstone, the squad are in the phase of building an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to produce the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated structure, different from the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Chester referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated the team principal just before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how tough it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, instead of the traditional management structure, a decentralized management comparable 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 different facilities.
“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they raise it up to their team leader, that supervisor communicates with a leader in another department, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” explains Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to handle things directly. Moving away from management approval for everything is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this agile methodology will be tested in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. Cadillac have taken on as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
