A little more than a full year previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last granted the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from the ground up has entailed a hectic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the final race of the campaign to be hosted in the US, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are cognizant there will not be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in March 2023 shortly after it was created, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its center ever since and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the experience.
“You might get a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in under three years,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Yes, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
Nick Chester enjoyed success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the challenge of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a factory team sponsored by the owner, GM, into F1.
“Building 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 existing team you rarely get the chance to transform organizational mindset.”
With every day that elapses focus are increasingly concentrated on the looming critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being managed.
“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal stated recently and while Nick Chester shared this view he felt the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation executing the right things on the track. After we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on improvement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In late summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a difficult start, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I am confident with this structure, with this group, these people, it's entirely possible we can't manage to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in top gear, with employees now at more than 400 and intended to reach the objective of 600 rapidly. Complementing their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the phase of building an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are developing the plant to produce the new engine, set for the 2029 season – for now they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, different from the direction in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how difficult it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of specialist groups all focusing on different aspects of the mission across a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a process where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their supervisor, that manager consults a manager at a different location, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” says the CTO. “So we empower people to handle things directly. Avoiding management approval for all decisions is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be evaluated in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. Cadillac have recruited as their development driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
