Just over a full year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's most recent entrant for 2026. Constructing the squad from the ground up has involved a hectic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport arrives on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the final race of the championship to be held in the America, with just over three months to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the nascent project in March 2023 shortly after it was established, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and has a knowing grin when considering the experience.
“There might be five minutes thinking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “But then the following moment you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the mission of launching the all-American Cadillac name, a works entry supported by the corporate entity, GM, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you rarely get the possibility to transform cultural approach.”
With every day that passes focus are increasingly concentrated on the approaching moment of truth in the Australian GP and expectations are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any incoming team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted this year and while Chester shared this view he believed the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “In order that we show up and we perform competently. We want to show that this is a professional operation doing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on improvement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Push
In the summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a duo notable for their invaluable experience in operating at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver expressed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. In my view with this setup, with this group, these people, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to the front and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in top gear, with staff now up to in excess of 400 and scheduled to reach the objective of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the process of building an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to build the power unit, set for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, at odds with the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.
Space Mission Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British GP in the summer. “We’re realistic, we understand how challenging it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all focusing on various components of the mission in a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they report it to their supervisor, that leader communicates with a leader somewhere else, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” explains Nick Chester. “We give authority to team members to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this flexible approach will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
