A little more than one year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from nothing has involved a hectic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As F1 converges on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be staged in the United States, with approximately 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic project in the spring of 2023 soon after it was created, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core ever since and gets a wry smile when thinking about the experience.
“You might get a short period reflecting at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Amazing, how impressive what the team has created in under three years,’” he notes. “And then the following moment you realize: ‘Yes, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
The CTO had success at Renault in Alonso's title-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in command of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the task of bringing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the parent company, General Motors, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you rarely get the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that passes minds are more focused on the impending critical moment in Melbourne and expectations are being managed.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented this year and while the CTO echoed this he felt the team had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation executing the proper actions on the circuit. After we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Effort
In the summer they signed Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the attitude of combative optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he said. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I believe given this organization, with this group, these personnel, there is every reason that we can't manage to get relatively quickly to the front and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in full swing, with staff now reaching in excess of 400 and planned to reach the goal of 600 quickly. Alongside their present headquarters at the UK base, the squad are in the midst of finishing an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are building the facility 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 sophisticated structure, contrary to the trend in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred.
Apollo Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we recognize how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, rather than the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of project teams all working on various components of the mission in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they report it to their team leader, that manager consults a supervisor in another department, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” says Chester. “We give authority to staff to handle things directly. Avoiding managerial sign-off for everything is so much cleaner and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible methodology will be proven in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
