Approximately twelve months ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the official approval as Formula One’s most recent entrant for 2026. Building the squad from the ground up has required a intense work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One arrives on Vegas this weekend, the team understand the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be staged in the United States, with approximately 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic team in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core since then and enjoys a amused expression when thinking about the journey.
“You might get a brief moment thinking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Amazing, how impressive what we have built in under three years,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you think: ‘Yes, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Alonso's championship-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the task of bringing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team supported by the owner, GM, into Formula One.
“Building an Formula One team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you don’t get the chance to change cultural approach.”
With every day that elapses minds are sharper on the looming critical moment in the Australian GP and expectations are being handled.
“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 accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted recently and while Chester shared this view he believed the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “So that we turn up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender performing the proper actions on the circuit. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we want to show forward movement after that.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Effort
In the summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the attitude of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and we expect probably a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I am confident with this structure, with this group, this staff, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to more than 400 and planned to attain the target of six hundred quickly. Complementing their current base at Silverstone, the squad are in the process of finishing an main base at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are building the plant to produce the power unit, set for 2029 – until then they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organisation, at odds with the direction in F1 for increased consolidation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said Lowdon just before the British GP in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a decentralized management akin to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of project teams all focusing on distinct elements of the mission in a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they escalate it to their supervisor, that supervisor consults a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” says the CTO. “We give authority to people to handle things directly. Eliminating management approval for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this flexible methodology will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is no little amount on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
