Approximately twelve months in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the go-ahead as Formula One’s latest entry for 2026. Establishing the squad from the ground up has required a frenetic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be staged in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they hit the circuit 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 sisyphean task, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent team in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core since then and enjoys a wry smile when reflecting on the journey.
“There might be a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” he says. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Yes, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Chester had success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has quite compared with the mission of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team supported by the corporate entity, GM, into F1.
“Establishing an F1 team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you won't have the possibility to alter team culture.”
With every day that goes by focus are more focused on the approaching decisive point in Melbourne and targets are being handled.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted this year and while the CTO echoed this he believed the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “In order that we turn up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender executing the proper actions on the circuit. When we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate progression from there on.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Effort
In the summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a tandem remarkable for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We have a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to stay at the back. In my view with this structure, with these individuals, this staff, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in full swing, with personnel now at over 400 and intended to attain the goal of six hundred quickly. In addition to their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the midst of finishing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to produce the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate structure, contrary to the trend in the sport for more centralization, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon just before the British GP in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, rather than the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of project teams all working on various components of the program at a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they report it to their manager, that supervisor talks to a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” says Chester. “We give authority to staff to handle things directly. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this agile methodology will be proven in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a considerable amount riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
