A little more than one year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last granted the green light as the world of Formula One's latest entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from scratch has entailed a frenetic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the season to be held in the America, with approximately three months to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are conscious there will not be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed team in March 2023 soon after it was formed, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center since then and gets a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.
“There might be a brief moment reflecting at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he says. “Then the following moment you consider: ‘Well, we still have a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Chester had success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the mission of bringing the all-American Cadillac marque, a works entry supported by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an Formula One team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you rarely get the chance to alter cultural approach.”
With each passing day that elapses minds are more focused on the approaching moment of truth in Melbourne and expectations are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon stated this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he thought the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So that we arrive and we perform competently. We want to show that we are a serious contender performing the right things on the track. When we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate progression subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Effort
In the summer they signed Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a pair notable for their priceless expertise in competing at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We face a massive task to do, and it will likely be most likely a difficult start, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I am confident with this structure, with this team, these people, it's entirely possible we can't manage to progress rapidly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To that end recruitment has been in full swing, with personnel now at more than 400 and scheduled to hit the goal of six hundred quickly. In addition to their present headquarters at Silverstone, the organization are in the process of finishing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to manufacture the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred.
Space Mission Model
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” remarked the team principal just before the British GP in the summer. “We’re realistic, we understand how difficult it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a decentralized management akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the program at a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they report it to their supervisor, that leader consults a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes Nick Chester. “So we empower people to handle things directly. Eliminating hierarchical consent for each action is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible approach will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a significant degree on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their development driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
