A little more than twelve months ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the official approval as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for 2026. Constructing the squad from nothing has involved a hectic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport descends on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac are aware time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the final race of the season to be hosted in the US, with around three months to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are cognizant there will not be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed operation in early 2023 soon after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center since then and has a knowing grin when considering the experience.
“You can have five minutes looking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we’ve done in less than three years,’” Chester states. “But then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
The CTO had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in command of engineering strategy at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a works entry backed by the owner, General Motors, into F1.
“Creating an F1 team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you rarely get the possibility to transform organizational mindset.”
With each day that elapses minds are more focused on the impending moment of truth in the Australian GP and goals are being handled.
“One must presume that any incoming team entering the sport is going to be last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” the team principal stated this year and while the CTO echoed this he thought the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “In order that we show up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team executing the right things on the track. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on improvement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Effort
In late summer they recruited Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their racers for the 2026 season, a tandem remarkable for their priceless expertise in operating at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver echoed the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We have a massive task to do, and we expect most likely 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, it's entirely possible we won't be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in full swing, with employees now at over 400 and planned to reach the goal of 600 rapidly. In addition to their current base at Silverstone, the team are in the phase of completing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to build the new engine, set for 2029 – until then they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex structure, at odds with the movement in the sport for greater centralisation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester referred.
Space Mission Model
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” said the team principal shortly before the British GP in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how tough it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of project teams all tackling distinct elements of the mission in a different facilities.
“When you must follow a process where an issue arises and they report it to their supervisor, that manager talks to a supervisor at a different location, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “Therefore we enable people to really get on with it. Avoiding hierarchical consent for all decisions is so much cleaner and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible approach will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is no little amount riding on this for Formula One, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
