Just over twelve months in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately granted the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's latest entrant for 2026. Establishing the team from the ground up has involved a intense pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As the sport arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be staged in the US, with just over three months to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in March 2023 soon after it was created, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its core since then and enjoys a amused expression when considering the ride.
“There might be five minutes looking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yeah, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical development at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the challenge of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an grand prix team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you don’t get the opportunity to transform cultural approach.”
With each passing day that elapses minds are more focused on the looming critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“One must presume that any new team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal stated earlier this year and while the CTO shared this view he thought the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “In order that we turn up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender executing the proper actions on the race track. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on progression subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In the summer they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Bottas echoed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he said. “We have a massive task to do, and it will likely be most likely a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I believe with this structure, with this team, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To that end recruitment has been in full swing, with employees now up to in excess of 400 and intended to hit the objective of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the process of building an headquarters at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to produce the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – for now they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, contrary to the movement in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester referred.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated Lowdon just before the British GP in the summer. “We’re realistic, we recognize how tough it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the project across a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a process where an issue arises and they report it to their manager, that leader consults a supervisor at a different location, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” says Nick Chester. “So we empower team members to take charge. Eliminating hierarchical consent for all decisions is much smoother and faster.”
The Future
The success of this flexible approach will be proven in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree riding on this for F1, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the young American Colton Herta
