A little more than twelve months in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last awarded the green light as Formula One’s latest participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from scratch has entailed a intense pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport descends on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the season finale of the season to be staged in the US, with around 100 days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are cognizant there will not be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed operation in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and enjoys a amused expression when thinking about the ride.
“You might get a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and think: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he says. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Yes, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in charge of engineering strategy at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the mission of introducing the all-American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the parent company, General Motors, into F1.
“Building an grand prix team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you won't have the opportunity to alter cultural approach.”
With each day that passes focus are sharper on the looming decisive point in Australia and goals are being managed.
“You have to assume that any incoming team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while the CTO echoed this he felt the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “In order that we show up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation performing the correct procedures on the track. When we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate progression from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Drive
In late summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for the 2026 season, a pair notable for their vast knowledge in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver echoed the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We have a massive task to do, and it will likely be most likely 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 this team, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in top gear, with employees now up to in excess of 400 and planned to hit the target of 600 quickly. Complementing their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the phase of building an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are building the plant to produce the 2029 engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – for now they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organization, contrary to the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said Lowdon shortly before the British GP in July. “We’re realistic, we know how difficult 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 adopted, instead of the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all focusing on different aspects of the mission across a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a process where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their manager, that manager communicates with a manager in another department, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” notes Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable people to really get on with it. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is so much cleaner and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this agile approach will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
