A little more than twelve months previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the green light as the world of Formula One's most recent participant for 2026. Establishing the team from scratch has required a frenetic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport descends on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the championship to be hosted in the America, with just over three months to go before they hit the circuit 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 monumental endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed operation in early 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and gets a amused expression when reflecting on the ride.
“There might be a short period looking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “But then the very next instant you think: ‘Yes, there is still a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
The CTO enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the challenge of bringing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Building an Formula One team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you won't have the opportunity to change team culture.”
With every day that elapses focus are more focused on the looming critical moment in the Australian GP and goals are being handled.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is going to be last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Chester echoed this he believed the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we arrive and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender performing the correct procedures on the race track. When we prove that our credentials are solid, then we want to show improvement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Effort
In late summer they signed Sergio Perez and Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a tandem distinguished for their vast knowledge in competing at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Bottas reflected the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he said. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident given this organization, with this group, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in top gear, with employees now reaching more than 400 and scheduled to reach the goal of 600 members swiftly. In addition to their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the phase of completing an HQ 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 the 2029 season – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, different from the trend in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester alluded.
Space Mission Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said the team principal just before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we know how challenging it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of project teams all working on distinct elements of the program across a different facilities.
“When you must follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their manager, that supervisor talks to a manager at a different location, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” explains the CTO. “So we empower staff to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this nimble methodology will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is no little amount riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their development driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
