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A little more than one year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the official approval as F1's most recent entry for 2026. Establishing the team from scratch has required a frenetic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As the sport converges on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.

The Race Against Time to Melbourne

At the season finale of the campaign to be staged 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 season opener, 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, joined the embryonic team in early 2023 soon after it was formed, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and has a wry smile when thinking about the experience.

“You might get five minutes reflecting at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in less than three years,’” he notes. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Yes, there is still a significant amount to do.’”

A Unique Challenge

Chester achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the mission of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the owner, GM, into F1.

“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you rarely get the chance to change cultural approach.”

With each passing day that passes focus are increasingly concentrated on the looming critical moment 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 simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he felt the team had a reputation to build as well.

“The initial objective we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we show up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the proper actions on the circuit. When we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate improvement after that.”

Racing Talent and Hiring Drive

In August they contracted Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a duo distinguished for their priceless expertise in competing at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver reflected the mood of combative optimism.

“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I believe with this structure, with this team, this staff, there is every reason that we won't be able to get relatively quickly to the front and enjoy some success.”

To realize that ambition recruitment has been in top gear, with employees now reaching more than 400 and planned to attain the goal of 600 members rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the organization are in the process of finishing an HQ at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to manufacture the power unit, planned for 2029 – for now they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a complex structure, contrary to the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Chester referred.

Space Mission Model

“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” remarked Lowdon ahead of the British GP in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we recognize how difficult it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”

So they have embraced, rather than the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of specialist groups all working on different aspects of the program in a variety of locations.

“When you must follow a procedure where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their manager, that supervisor communicates with a manager at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” notes the CTO. “So we empower staff to take charge. Moving away from managerial sign-off for each action is so much cleaner and more rapid.”

What Lies Ahead

The effectiveness of this flexible methodology will be proven in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is no little amount riding on this for Formula One, too. Cadillac have recruited as their test driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta