A little more than one year ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's latest entrant for 2026. Establishing the team from scratch has required a intense pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One arrives on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team know time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the season finale of the season to be hosted in the America, with just over a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit 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 monumental endeavor, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed operation in early 2023 shortly after it was created, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and has a knowing grin when thinking about the experience.
“You can have five minutes reflecting at what you’ve done and go: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you realize: ‘Yeah, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Alonso's victorious years of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has been quite like the task of introducing the all-American Cadillac brand, a works entry sponsored by the corporate entity, GM, into F1.
“Building an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you won't have the chance to change cultural approach.”
With every day that passes focus are more focused on the approaching decisive point in the Australian GP and targets are being managed.
“You have to assume 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 accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he felt the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we perform competently. We want to show that we are a serious contender performing the correct procedures on the track. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate improvement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Push
In August they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a tandem notable for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We have a massive task to do, and it will likely be probably a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe with this setup, with this group, these personnel, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with staff now up to over 400 and intended to attain the objective of 600 rapidly. Alongside their existing facility at Silverstone, the team are in the process of building an headquarters at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are building the center to build the new engine, planned for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will use Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organization, different from the direction in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Chester referred to.
NASA Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” stated the team principal shortly before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all focusing on distinct elements of the program at a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they raise it up to their manager, that manager consults a manager somewhere else, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” explains Chester. “We give authority to people to handle things directly. Avoiding management approval for each action is much smoother and more rapid.”
The Future
The efficacy of this nimble methodology will be evaluated in the heat of competition next season and there is a significant degree at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
