Approximately one year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the green light as the world of Formula One's newest entry for the 2026 season. Building the organization from the ground up has entailed a frenetic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be staged in the America, with around a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are cognizant there will not be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in the spring of 2023 not long after it was established, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a wry smile when reflecting on the experience.
“You can have a short period thinking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we have built in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the following moment you consider: ‘Yes, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in charge of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the task of bringing the all-American Cadillac brand, a works entry sponsored by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Building an grand prix team from the ground up, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you won't have the possibility to alter team culture.”
With every day that goes by focus are increasingly concentrated on the looming critical moment in Melbourne and targets are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any new team entering the sport is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” the team principal commented earlier this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he says. “So we arrive and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team doing the proper actions on the circuit. When we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate progression from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Push
In the summer they recruited Checo Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for the 2026 season, a tandem remarkable for their priceless expertise in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver echoed the attitude of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We have a massive task to do, and we expect most likely a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with these individuals, these people, it's entirely possible we can't manage to get relatively quickly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To that end hiring has been in top gear, with staff now up to over 400 and planned to attain the objective of 600 swiftly. Complementing their current base at the UK base, the squad are in the midst of finishing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are constructing the plant to produce the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, at odds with the movement in the sport for more centralization, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred to.
Space Mission Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” stated Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, instead of the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of project teams all tackling different aspects of the mission in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their team leader, that supervisor talks to a manager in another department, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” explains the CTO. “Therefore we enable team members to take charge. Moving away from managerial sign-off for everything is so much cleaner and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be tested in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a considerable amount on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the young American Colton Herta
