Approximately one year ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the green light as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from scratch has required a hectic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this weekend, the team understand time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with around 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent team in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was established, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a wry smile when considering the journey.
“You might get a short period looking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he says. “And then the next minute you consider: ‘Yes, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
The CTO had success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious years of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical development at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a works entry supported by the parent company, GM, into F1.
“Establishing an grand prix team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you won't have the possibility to alter organizational mindset.”
With each day that goes by thoughts are increasingly concentrated on the approaching decisive point in Melbourne and expectations are being managed.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon commented recently and while Chester shared this view he felt the squad had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation doing the right things on the race track. When we prove that we’re really credible, then we want to show forward movement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Effort
In August they recruited Checo Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for the 2026 season, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We face a massive task to do, and it will likely be probably a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I believe given this organization, with this team, these people, there is every reason that we can't manage to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in full swing, with employees now reaching more than 400 and scheduled to reach the goal of 600 swiftly. Complementing their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the phase of completing an headquarters at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the plant to produce the new engine, set for the 2029 season – until then they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex structure, contrary to the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred to.
Apollo Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in July. “We’re realistic, we know how challenging 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 embraced, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all working on distinct elements of the project across a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a procedure where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their team leader, that leader consults a supervisor in another department, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” says the CTO. “We give authority to team members to take charge. Eliminating management approval for everything is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this flexible approach will be proven in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. Cadillac have taken on as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
