Just over a full year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the go-ahead as Formula One’s latest entrant for 2026. Building the team from scratch has required a intense work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As Formula One arrives on Vegas this weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the campaign to be hosted in the America, with approximately three months to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in March 2023 soon after it was created, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and has a wry smile when considering the experience.
“There might be a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and think: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “And then the next minute you think: ‘Well, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in command of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an F1 team from the ground up, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you won't have the opportunity to alter team culture.”
With each passing day that passes focus are increasingly concentrated on the approaching critical moment in Australia and expectations are being set realistically.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad 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 noted recently and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the squad had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “In order that we arrive and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the right things on the race track. Once we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we will focus on improvement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push
In August they signed Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a duo distinguished for their vast knowledge in performing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and we expect probably a tough opening, because it is F1. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I believe with this setup, with these individuals, these personnel, it's entirely possible we can't manage to progress rapidly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in top gear, with personnel now up to over 400 and scheduled to hit the target of 600 swiftly. In addition to their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the process of building an HQ at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to manufacture the new engine, set for 2029 – until then they will run power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex structure, at odds with the direction in the sport for more centralization, and has led to the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we know how challenging it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, instead of the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of specialist groups all working on distinct elements of the mission at a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a protocol where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that supervisor talks to a manager somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” says the CTO. “We give authority to people to handle things directly. Eliminating managerial sign-off for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible approach will be proven in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
