Approximately a full year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the green light as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for 2026. Building the organization from nothing has required a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the season finale of the championship to be staged in the United States, with just over a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will never be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic team in March 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart since then and gets a amused expression when thinking about the journey.
“There might be a short period looking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “But then the following moment you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Alonso's championship-winning years of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the mission of introducing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a factory team sponsored by the parent company, GM, into F1.
“Establishing an grand prix team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you don’t get the chance to alter organizational mindset.”
With each day that passes thoughts are sharper on the looming decisive point in the Australian GP and targets are being managed.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So we arrive and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender performing the right things on the track. Once we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we want to show improvement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In the summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in performing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Bottas reflected the mood of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he said. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I believe given this organization, with this team, this staff, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in overdrive, with staff now reaching over 400 and scheduled to hit the target of six hundred rapidly. Alongside their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the phase of completing an headquarters at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to build the power unit, planned for the 2029 season – until then they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a complex structure, at odds with the direction in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Chester referred to.
Space Mission Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” stated the team principal ahead of the British Grand Prix in July. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how difficult 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, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the program in a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a procedure where an issue arises and they escalate it to their team leader, that supervisor consults a leader somewhere else, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” explains Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to handle things directly. Avoiding managerial sign-off for all decisions is much smoother and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this agile strategy will be evaluated in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a considerable amount riding on this for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
