Just over one year previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last granted the green light as Formula One’s latest participant for 2026. Constructing the organization from the ground up has required a frenetic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As F1 descends on Las Vegas this weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be held in the America, with approximately a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are cognizant there will not be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed operation in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was created, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a amused expression when considering the ride.
“You might get a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “Then the following moment you realize: ‘Yeah, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's championship-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of introducing the all-American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Creating an F1 team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you won't have the opportunity to alter team culture.”
With each day that passes minds are increasingly concentrated on the looming moment of truth in Melbourne and targets are being managed.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon commented this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So we turn up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender 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.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Drive
In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a tandem distinguished for their priceless expertise in operating at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver echoed the mood of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be probably a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to finish last. In my view with this setup, with this group, this staff, there’s no reason why we won't be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in full swing, with staff now reaching in excess of 400 and planned to attain the objective of 600 rapidly. In addition to their current base at the UK base, the team are in the midst of completing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to manufacture the power unit, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated structure, contrary to the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO alluded.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we know how challenging it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all tackling distinct elements of the project at a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a process where an issue arises and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader consults a leader in another department, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” says Nick Chester. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is far more efficient and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is no little amount riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the emerging American Colton Herta
