A little more than a full year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last given the official approval as Formula One’s most recent participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from the ground up has involved a hectic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As F1 converges on Las Vegas this weekend, the team understand time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be hosted in the US, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the first time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed team in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a amused expression when reflecting on the journey.
“There might be a brief moment thinking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in less than three years,’” Chester states. “But then the next minute you realize: ‘Yeah, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
The CTO had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has quite compared with the task of bringing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a works entry backed by the parent company, GM, into F1.
“Creating an grand prix team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you don’t get the opportunity to transform team culture.”
With every day that passes focus are more focused on the impending moment of truth in the Australian GP and expectations are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted earlier this year and while the CTO echoed this he felt the squad had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “So we arrive and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team doing the correct procedures on the race track. Once we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on improvement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Effort
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a tandem notable for their priceless expertise in operating at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident with this setup, with this team, this staff, there’s no reason why we can't manage to progress rapidly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in top gear, with employees now at more than 400 and intended to attain the target of 600 swiftly. In addition to their existing facility at the UK base, the organization are in the process of building an HQ at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to manufacture the power unit, set for the 2029 season – for now they will run Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, at odds with the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.
Apollo Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” said Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we know how tough it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a decentralized management similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of project teams all focusing on various components of the mission at a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a process where a challenge emerges and they report it to their manager, that leader talks to a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes Chester. “We give authority to people to really get on with it. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this agile strategy will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is no little amount on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have recruited as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
