A little more than twelve months in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last awarded the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Building the organization from the ground up has entailed a frenetic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport converges on Las Vegas this weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the final race of the championship to be held in the United States, with just over a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are conscious there will not be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent operation in early 2023 soon after it was established, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center from that point and gets a knowing grin when considering the ride.
“There might be a brief moment thinking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “And then the following moment you realize: ‘Well, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has been quite like the mission of bringing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a works entry backed by the parent company, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an F1 team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you rarely get the chance to alter team culture.”
With each day that passes minds are more focused on the looming moment of truth in Australia and goals are being handled.
“You have to assume that any new team coming in is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented this year and while Chester echoed this he felt the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “In order that we arrive and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the race track. When we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Effort
In the summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and we expect probably a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident with this setup, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we won't be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To that end recruitment has been in overdrive, with employees now reaching over 400 and intended to reach the goal of 600 rapidly. In addition to their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the phase of finishing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are building the plant to build the 2029 engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – for now they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organisation, at odds with the movement in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred to.
Apollo Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how tough it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all focusing on different aspects of the program across a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a process where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that supervisor consults a manager at a different location, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” says the CTO. “Therefore we enable staff to really get on with it. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this agile approach will be proven in the heat of competition next season and there is a considerable amount on the line for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
