🔗 Share this article

A little more than twelve months previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Building the organization from the ground up has entailed a hectic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport converges on Vegas this weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.

The Race Against Time to Australia

At the final race of the championship to be held in the United States, with around a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.

The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed project in the spring of 2023 soon after it was created, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core ever since and enjoys a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.

“There might be a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what we have built in under three years,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you realize: ‘Well, there is still a great deal to do.’”

An Unprecedented Challenge

The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical development at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has been quite like the mission of launching the iconic American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the parent company, General Motors, into F1.

“Establishing an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you won't have the chance to alter team culture.”

With each day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the approaching critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being managed.

“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal stated earlier this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he thought the team had a reputation to build as well.

“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender doing the proper actions on the circuit. After we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show forward movement subsequently.”

Driver Lineup and Team Building Drive

In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a duo notable for their priceless expertise in operating at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Bottas echoed the attitude of combative optimism.

“Of course, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a difficult start, because it is F1. But we’re not there to stay at the back. In my view given this organization, with this group, these personnel, there’s no reason why we can't manage to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”

To realize that ambition recruitment has been in top gear, with staff now up to over 400 and intended to attain the goal of 600 members rapidly. In addition to their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the midst of finishing an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are building the plant to produce the 2029 engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will run power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex organisation, at odds with the direction in the sport for greater centralisation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester referred.

NASA Model

“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” stated Lowdon shortly before the British GP in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”

So they have embraced, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all focusing on distinct elements of the program across a different facilities.

“When you must follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their manager, that supervisor communicates with a leader somewhere else, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” explains Chester. “We give authority to staff to handle things directly. Avoiding managerial sign-off for all decisions is far more efficient and faster.”

The Future

The success of this agile methodology will be evaluated in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta