Approximately twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last awarded the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from scratch has entailed a frenetic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on the Vegas strip this race weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the campaign to be held in the America, with around 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in March 2023 not long after it was established, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a wry smile when considering the ride.
“There might be a brief moment looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” he notes. “Then the very next instant you consider: ‘Well, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Alonso's victorious seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has been quite like the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a works entry supported by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Building an F1 team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you don’t get the possibility to change cultural approach.”
With each day that passes focus are sharper on the approaching decisive point in Melbourne and expectations are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any new team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted recently and while the CTO echoed this he believed the organization had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he says. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team doing the proper actions on the race track. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate improvement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Drive
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a pair remarkable for their vast knowledge in operating at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver expressed the attitude of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a tough opening, because it is F1. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe given this organization, with these individuals, these people, there is every reason that we won't be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in overdrive, with employees now at over 400 and scheduled to hit the objective of six hundred quickly. In addition to their existing facility at the UK base, the team are in the midst of completing an main base at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are building the plant to manufacture the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a sophisticated structure, different from the trend in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” stated Graeme Lowdon just before the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how difficult it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Well, it's not a space expedition, 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 range of specialist groups all focusing on various components of the project at a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a process where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader talks to a supervisor in another department, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” explains the CTO. “Therefore we enable staff to handle things directly. Eliminating managerial sign-off for each action is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible strategy will be proven in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is no little amount on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
