A little more than twelve months in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally given the official approval as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from the ground up has involved a intense work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the season finale of the championship to be staged in the United States, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the first time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in early 2023 soon after it was created, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and enjoys a amused expression when considering the journey.
“You might get a brief moment thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Well, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Chester had success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the mission of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a factory team backed by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Building an Formula One team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you don’t get the chance to transform cultural approach.”
With each passing day that elapses thoughts are sharper on the approaching critical moment in Australia and targets are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any new team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon noted earlier this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “In order that we arrive and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender performing the proper actions on the race track. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we will focus on forward movement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Effort
In late summer they recruited Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the mood of determined optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We face a mountain of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. In my view given this organization, with this team, these personnel, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in overdrive, with staff now reaching over 400 and planned to attain the objective of six hundred rapidly. Complementing their present headquarters at the UK base, the squad are in the process of finishing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to build the power unit, planned for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organization, contrary to the direction in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred to.
Space Mission Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” stated Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we understand how tough it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of NASA's, where there were a range of specialist groups all tackling various components of the project across a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their team leader, that manager consults a manager in another department, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to handle things directly. Avoiding managerial sign-off for everything is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible strategy will be evaluated in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
