Just over one year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the green light as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from nothing has involved a intense work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 descends on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event 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, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent project in early 2023 shortly after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and gets a amused expression when thinking about the ride.
“There might be a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we’ve done in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you realize: ‘Well, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious seasons of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the challenge of introducing the all-American Cadillac marque, a factory team supported by the parent company, GM, into F1.
“Creating 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 rarely get the possibility to alter team culture.”
With each passing day that elapses thoughts are increasingly concentrated on the approaching decisive point in Australia and expectations are being managed.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is going to be last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal commented recently and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he believed the team had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So that we arrive and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the race track. After we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we want to show forward movement from there on.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Push
In the summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Bottas reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because it is F1. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe with this structure, with these individuals, this staff, there’s no reason why we can't manage to progress rapidly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in overdrive, with employees now at over 400 and scheduled to attain the goal of 600 swiftly. In addition to their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the phase of building an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to produce the 2029 engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – for now they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, different from the trend in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
NASA Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said Lowdon shortly before the British GP in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we know how tough it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, 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 project at a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they report it to their team leader, that manager consults a supervisor at a different location, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” notes Chester. “We give authority to team members to take charge. Avoiding management approval for everything is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this nimble methodology will be evaluated in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is no little amount at stake for F1, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
