Just over twelve months ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's most recent participant for 2026. Building the squad from scratch has involved a hectic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on Vegas this weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the championship to be hosted in the America, with approximately a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are aware there will not be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in early 2023 not long after it was established, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and enjoys a wry smile when thinking about the ride.
“You can have a short period thinking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “But then the very next instant you consider: ‘Well, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in control of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the task of launching the all-American Cadillac brand, a factory team backed by the owner, GM, into Formula One.
“Building an grand prix team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you won't have the opportunity to alter organizational mindset.”
With each day that goes by minds are more focused on the looming decisive point in Australia and targets are being handled.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal commented this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he believed the organization had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we show up and we perform competently. We want to show that we’re a proper team executing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we want to show forward movement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Drive
In late summer they signed Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a tandem notable for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We have a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. In my view with this structure, with this group, these personnel, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to the front and achieve good results.”
To that end hiring has been in full swing, with employees now up to more than 400 and intended to hit the goal of 600 rapidly. Alongside their current base at the UK base, the organization are in the midst of building an main base at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are developing the plant to manufacture the power unit, set for 2029 – until then they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organization, contrary to the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester alluded.
NASA Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” stated Lowdon ahead of the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how challenging it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of specialist groups all focusing on distinct elements of the project at a different facilities.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their team leader, that supervisor consults a leader in another department, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” notes the CTO. “Therefore we enable staff to take charge. Avoiding management approval for all decisions is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be evaluated in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a significant degree on the line for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
