Approximately a full year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the go-ahead as Formula One’s latest entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the team from nothing has required a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the last event of the season to be held in the America, with approximately three months to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed team in March 2023 shortly after it was established, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart since then and has a amused expression when reflecting on the journey.
“You might get a brief moment thinking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Nick Chester had success at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning campaigns of 2005 and 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 introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the owner, GM, into Formula One.
“Creating an grand prix team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you won't have the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that passes minds are more focused on the approaching moment of truth in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated this year and while the CTO shared this view he thought the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we should be there,” he says. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team executing the proper actions on the circuit. When we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we want to show improvement after that.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Effort
In August they recruited Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for the 2026 season, a tandem notable for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas echoed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We face a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to finish last. In my view with this structure, with this team, this staff, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with staff now up to over 400 and intended to hit the goal of 600 swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at Silverstone, the squad are in the process of building an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to build the new engine, planned for 2029 – until then they will run power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex structure, at odds with the movement in F1 for greater centralisation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester alluded.
Apollo Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” said the team principal shortly before the British Grand Prix in July. “We’re realistic, we recognize how tough it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. OK, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all working on different aspects of the project across a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a procedure where an issue arises and they escalate it to their manager, that manager communicates with a manager at a different location, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to team members to handle things directly. Moving away from managerial sign-off for each action is so much cleaner and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this agile approach will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
