Approximately a full year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last given the official approval as F1's most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from scratch has entailed a hectic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One descends on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the last event of the season to be held in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are aware there will never be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent team in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and has a knowing grin when thinking about the experience.
“You can have a short period looking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “And then the next minute you realize: ‘Yeah, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical direction at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the challenge of bringing the all-American Cadillac marque, a factory team backed by the owner, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an grand prix team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you rarely get the chance to alter cultural approach.”
With each day that goes by minds are more focused on the approaching decisive point in Melbourne and targets are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team entering the sport is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he thought the organization had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the track. Once we prove that we’re really credible, then we will focus on forward movement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in performing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to finish last. I believe with this setup, with this group, these personnel, there is every reason that we won't be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in full swing, with staff now reaching more than 400 and intended to reach the target of 600 members swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at Silverstone, the squad are in the midst of finishing an HQ at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are constructing the plant to manufacture the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – for now they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organization, different from the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester alluded.
NASA Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated the team principal shortly before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we know how tough it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. OK, 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 non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the mission across a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where a challenge emerges and they report it to their team leader, that manager talks to a supervisor at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” explains Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to handle things directly. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and faster.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount riding on this for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their reserve driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
