A little more than a full year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Building the organization from the ground up has required a intense pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As the sport converges on Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the season finale of the season to be staged in the United States, with around 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic team in early 2023 shortly after it was created, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core since then and gets a knowing grin when thinking about the ride.
“You can have a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Yes, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Chester achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has been quite like the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Creating an F1 team from the ground up, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you won't have the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that goes by thoughts are increasingly concentrated on the looming moment of truth in the Australian GP and expectations are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad entering the sport is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” the team principal commented earlier this year and while the CTO shared this view he felt the organization had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “So that we arrive and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the circuit. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we want to show forward movement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In August they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their priceless expertise in operating at the front in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the mood of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We have a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because it is F1. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I believe with this setup, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in top gear, with staff now up to more than 400 and scheduled to reach the target of 600 quickly. In addition to their present headquarters at the UK base, the squad are in the process of finishing an HQ at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to produce the new engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will run Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, contrary to the direction in F1 for greater centralisation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred to.
NASA Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated the team principal ahead of the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of specialist groups all working on distinct elements of the program across a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their manager, that leader talks to a manager in another department, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” explains the CTO. “We give authority to staff to take charge. Avoiding management approval for everything is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this nimble methodology will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a considerable amount on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their test driver the young Californian Colton Herta
