Just over one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the go-ahead as Formula One’s most recent entry for 2026. Building the team from nothing has involved a frenetic operating tempo that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the season finale of the campaign to be hosted in the America, with just over a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent team in early 2023 soon after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core from that point and has a wry smile when considering the ride.
“You can have a brief moment looking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what the team has created in under three years,’” Chester states. “And then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious seasons of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the challenge of launching the all-American Cadillac brand, a works entry supported by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Creating an F1 team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you rarely get the possibility to change team culture.”
With each day that goes by minds are more focused on the looming moment of truth in the Australian GP and expectations are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any new team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal stated earlier this year and while the CTO shared this view he felt the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we show up and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender performing the correct procedures on the circuit. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we want to show improvement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Drive
In the summer they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their racers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their invaluable experience in operating at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Bottas reflected the attitude of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We have a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe with this structure, with this group, these people, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to over 400 and intended to reach the target of 600 members quickly. Complementing their present headquarters at the UK base, the team are in the phase of building an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to build the new engine, set for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will run power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the movement in F1 for more centralization, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester alluded.
NASA Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon ahead of the British GP in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we recognize how tough it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the mission at a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they raise it up to their supervisor, that supervisor communicates with a supervisor at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to people to take charge. Moving away from management approval for all decisions is so much cleaner and quicker.”
The Future
The success of this nimble strategy will be proven in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is a considerable amount at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their test driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
