A little more than one year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last given the green light as Formula One’s latest participant for 2026. Establishing the organization from the ground up has involved a intense operating tempo that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be hosted in the United States, with around a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are aware there will not be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed operation in early 2023 not long after it was created, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and enjoys a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get five minutes thinking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “But then the following moment you think: ‘Well, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
Nick Chester had success at Renault in Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in command of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the challenge of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an Formula One team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you don’t get the possibility to change team culture.”
With each day that goes by focus are more focused on the impending decisive point in Melbourne and targets are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any new team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon noted this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he felt the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “So we arrive and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the proper actions on the circuit. After we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we will focus on improvement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Drive
In the summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a duo notable for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver reflected the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We have a massive task to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because it is F1. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I am confident given this organization, with this team, this staff, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in full swing, with staff now up to more than 400 and scheduled to reach the target of 600 quickly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the team are in the process of finishing an main base at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are building the facility to build the new engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organisation, at odds with the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred to.
Apollo Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” remarked Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the program in a different facilities.
“When you must follow a process where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their team leader, that leader consults a supervisor at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” explains Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable people to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for each action is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible approach will be evaluated in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
