Just over twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately granted the green light as Formula One’s latest participant for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from the ground up has required a frenetic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport converges on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be staged in the United States, with approximately a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are cognizant there will never be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed operation in early 2023 not long after it was established, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core since then and has a knowing grin when thinking about the journey.
“You might get a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he says. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Nick Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a works entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an F1 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 don’t get the chance to alter team culture.”
With each day that elapses thoughts are sharper on the approaching decisive point in Australia and expectations are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad coming in is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted recently and while Nick Chester echoed this he felt the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we show up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team performing the correct procedures on the track. When we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on forward movement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Effort
In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their racers for 2026, a tandem notable for their invaluable experience in competing at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Bottas echoed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We face a massive task to do, and it will likely be probably a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with these individuals, these people, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and taste victory.”
To that end hiring has been in overdrive, with staff now reaching in excess of 400 and scheduled to hit the target of 600 members quickly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the squad are in the midst of completing an main base at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to produce the 2029 engine, set for the 2029 season – for now they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate structure, contrary to the movement in F1 for increased consolidation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British GP in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how tough it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, rather than the traditional management structure, a decentralized management similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling different aspects of the project in a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they escalate it to their manager, that supervisor talks to a manager at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” says Nick Chester. “We give authority to team members to take charge. Eliminating managerial sign-off for everything is far more efficient and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this agile approach will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is a considerable amount riding on this for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their test driver the young American Colton Herta
