Approximately one year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the official approval as Formula One’s most recent entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from the ground up has required a frenetic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One converges on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the season finale of the campaign to be hosted in the America, with just over a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent project in March 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a wry smile when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get a short period looking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “But then the following moment you think: ‘Yeah, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has quite compared with the mission of bringing the all-American Cadillac brand, a factory team sponsored by the parent company, General Motors, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from the ground up, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you won't have the chance to alter cultural approach.”
With each day that elapses focus are more focused on the impending critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal stated earlier this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he believed the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he says. “So we show up and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the track. Once we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on forward movement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Drive
In August they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a duo notable for their vast knowledge in performing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he said. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe with this structure, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we won't be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in full swing, with employees now reaching more than 400 and intended to attain the goal of 600 quickly. Alongside their present headquarters at the UK base, the squad are in the midst of completing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the center to manufacture the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a complex organization, contrary to the direction in the sport for greater centralisation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Chester referred.
NASA Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in July. “We’re realistic, we know how tough it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the program across a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a process where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their manager, that manager consults a leader somewhere else, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” notes the CTO. “So we empower team members to take charge. Eliminating hierarchical consent for everything is so much cleaner and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this nimble approach will be proven in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is no little amount riding on this for the sport, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
