Just over twelve months previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last given the official approval as Formula One’s latest entry for 2026. Establishing the squad from the ground up has involved a intense operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As Formula One arrives on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the season finale of the season to be hosted in the United States, with around 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed team in the spring of 2023 not long after it was established, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart since then and has a wry smile when reflecting on the journey.
“You might get five minutes reflecting at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what the team has created in less than three years,’” he says. “Then the following moment you realize: ‘Yes, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the parent company, General Motors, into F1.
“Establishing an F1 team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you don’t get the opportunity to alter cultural approach.”
With each passing day that goes by focus are sharper on the approaching decisive point in Australia and targets are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any new team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal stated recently and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he felt the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we operate well. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation performing the right things on the race track. When we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we want to show forward movement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Drive
In the summer they contracted Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their racers for the 2026 season, a duo remarkable for their priceless expertise in operating at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we can't manage to get relatively quickly to the front and achieve good results.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in full swing, with staff now reaching over 400 and planned to reach the objective of six hundred quickly. Alongside their current base at Silverstone, the squad are in the phase of building an main base at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to build the 2029 engine, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a sophisticated structure, contrary to the movement in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred to.
Apollo Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” stated Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how challenging it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. OK, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all tackling different aspects of the project in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where an issue arises 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’s super slow,” says the CTO. “So we empower staff to handle things directly. Eliminating managerial sign-off for all decisions is much smoother and quicker.”
The Future
The efficacy of this agile approach will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
