Approximately a full year previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the official approval as F1's most recent participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from scratch has entailed a intense pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be held in the US, with approximately three months to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in early 2023 soon after it was established, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and enjoys a wry smile when thinking about the experience.
“You can have a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and say: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he says. “Then the next minute you think: ‘Well, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Nick Chester had success at Renault in Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical development at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the mission of introducing the all-American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the parent company, General Motors, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you won't have the opportunity to alter team culture.”
With every day that passes minds are sharper on the approaching decisive point in the Australian GP and expectations are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad joining the grid is going to be last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” the team principal noted recently and while Chester echoed this he believed the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we show up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we are a serious contender doing the right things on the track. When we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo notable for their vast knowledge in performing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the attitude of combative optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. In my view with this structure, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in full swing, with personnel now reaching over 400 and planned to attain the goal of 600 swiftly. Alongside their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the process of completing an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to manufacture the power unit, set for 2029 – until then they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, contrary to the trend in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.
Space Mission Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” said Lowdon just before the British GP in the summer. “We’re realistic, we recognize how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, rather than the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the project at a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a process where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their team leader, that leader consults a leader somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” explains Chester. “We give authority to team members to take charge. Avoiding management approval for all decisions is much smoother and more rapid.”
The Future
The success of this flexible methodology will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
