Approximately a full year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the green light as Formula One’s most recent entry for 2026. Establishing the squad from nothing has required a intense 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 Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the season finale of the championship to be staged in the America, with just over 100 days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed project in March 2023 not long after it was established, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core from that point and has a amused expression when reflecting on the journey.
“There might be a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Yes, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Nick Chester had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the challenge of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a factory team sponsored by the corporate entity, GM, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you rarely get the opportunity to alter team culture.”
With each day that goes by focus are increasingly concentrated on the impending moment of truth in Melbourne and expectations are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any new team joining the grid is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” the team principal noted this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he felt the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he says. “In order that we turn up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team performing the proper actions on the track. When we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on improvement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Effort
In the summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their racers for the 2026 season, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in competing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas expressed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and we expect probably a difficult start, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident with this setup, with this group, these personnel, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in full swing, with employees now at in excess of 400 and intended to hit the goal of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their present headquarters at the UK base, the team are in the midst of completing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to build the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will use Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organization, at odds with the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon just before the British GP in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how difficult it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the project across a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a process where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader communicates with a supervisor at a different location, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” says Nick Chester. “We give authority to team members to handle things directly. Moving away from managerial sign-off for each action is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this nimble strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is no little amount on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
