A little more than one year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the green light as Formula One’s latest participant for the 2026 season. Building the team from the ground up has involved a intense work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As Formula One descends on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the campaign to be held in the US, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are aware there will never be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic operation in early 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart ever since and enjoys a wry smile when considering the ride.
“There might be a brief moment thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “Then the next minute you think: ‘Well, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Nick Chester had success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical development at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the mission of introducing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a works entry sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Establishing an grand prix team from the ground up, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you won't have the chance to transform organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that passes focus are sharper on the impending critical moment in Australia and targets are being managed.
“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal noted earlier this year and while Nick 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 deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation performing the correct procedures on the track. Once we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Drive
In the summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver echoed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and we expect probably a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. In my view with this setup, with these individuals, these personnel, it's entirely possible we can't manage to progress rapidly to the front and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in top gear, with employees now at in excess of 400 and planned to hit the objective of 600 quickly. In addition to their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the process of building an main base at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are building the center to manufacture the 2029 engine, set for the 2029 season – until then they will run Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex organization, different from the movement in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Chester referred.
NASA Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said the team principal ahead of the British GP in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how tough it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all working on various components of the project across a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a protocol where a challenge emerges and they report it to their manager, that supervisor consults a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes Chester. “We give authority to staff to take charge. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is far more efficient and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this flexible approach will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a significant degree on the line for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their development driver the young American Colton Herta
