Approximately a full year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally given the official approval as Formula One’s newest participant for 2026. Constructing the organization from scratch has required a hectic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As Formula One descends on Las Vegas this weekend, the team understand the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the season finale of the campaign to be hosted in the America, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed project in early 2023 soon after it was created, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core since then and gets a knowing grin when considering the ride.
“You can have a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and go: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” Chester states. “And then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the challenge of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the owner, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Creating an grand prix team from the ground up, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you rarely get the opportunity to alter organizational mindset.”
With each day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the impending critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any incoming team joining the grid is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon stated this year and while Chester echoed this he believed the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we turn up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation executing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate improvement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Effort
In August they contracted Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their racers for the 2026 season, a duo notable for their vast knowledge in operating at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas expressed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a difficult start, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I am confident given this organization, with this team, these people, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To that end hiring has been in top gear, with employees now at more than 400 and scheduled to reach the objective of six hundred rapidly. Alongside their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the phase of completing an main base at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will use Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, different from the direction in F1 for greater centralisation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we understand how tough it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a decentralized management comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all focusing on various components of the project at a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where an issue arises and they raise it up to their team leader, that supervisor talks to a manager in another department, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to people to take charge. Eliminating management approval for each action is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible approach will be evaluated in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
