A little more than twelve months ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the official approval as Formula One’s most recent entrant for 2026. Building the team from nothing has required a hectic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport descends on Vegas this weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be hosted in the United States, with approximately three months to go before they take to the track for the first time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are cognizant there will not be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic project in early 2023 shortly after it was created, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core since then and gets a knowing grin when thinking about the journey.
“There might be five minutes thinking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he says. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Well, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the task of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the parent company, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Creating an grand prix team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you rarely get the chance to transform team culture.”
With each day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the impending moment of truth in Australia and goals are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad joining the grid is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the organization had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender doing the right things on the track. After we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on improvement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Drive
In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a tandem remarkable for their priceless expertise in competing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver reflected the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a difficult start, because it is F1. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I believe with this setup, with this team, these personnel, it's entirely possible we won't be able to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in top gear, with staff now reaching over 400 and scheduled to hit the objective of 600 members rapidly. Complementing their current base at Silverstone, the organization are in the midst of finishing an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to produce the power unit, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate structure, different from the movement in F1 for more centralization, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred to.
Apollo Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” stated the team principal just before the British GP in July. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how tough it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all focusing on different aspects of the project across a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they raise it up to their team leader, that supervisor consults a supervisor in another department, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” notes Chester. “Therefore we enable people to take charge. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is far more efficient and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this nimble approach will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount riding on this for F1, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta
