Approximately one year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately awarded the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's newest entry for 2026. Establishing the organization from nothing has involved a intense work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 descends on the Vegas strip this race weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the season finale of the campaign to be held in the US, with approximately a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed project in March 2023 shortly after it was created, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart from that point and has a amused expression when reflecting on the journey.
“There might be a short period thinking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “And then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious years of the mid-2000s and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the challenge of launching the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Building an Formula One team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you won't have the opportunity to alter organizational mindset.”
With every day that passes thoughts are more focused on the impending decisive point in the Australian GP and goals are being handled.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is going to be last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated recently and while the CTO echoed this he thought the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So we turn up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation doing the right things on the circuit. After we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate progression from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Push
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo remarkable for their vast knowledge in competing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to stay at the back. In my view with this setup, with this group, these people, there is every reason that we can't manage to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in overdrive, with staff now at more than 400 and planned to hit the target of 600 quickly. Complementing their current base at the UK base, the team are in the phase of completing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to produce the 2029 engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, contrary to the movement in F1 for greater centralisation, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.
Apollo Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British GP in the summer. “We’re realistic, we understand how difficult it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of project teams all focusing on different aspects of the mission at a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their manager, that supervisor talks to a leader at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to staff to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for all decisions is so much cleaner and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this nimble strategy will be tested in the heat of competition next season and there is a considerable amount riding on this for Formula One, too. Cadillac have recruited as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
