Approximately one year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the official approval as Formula One’s newest participant for the 2026 season. Building the squad from scratch has entailed a intense pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 descends on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be held in the United States, with approximately a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are cognizant there will not be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent operation in the spring of 2023 not long after it was established, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and gets a wry smile when considering the ride.
“You might get a brief moment looking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yes, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
Nick Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning seasons 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 truly matched the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac marque, a factory team supported by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Creating an F1 team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you won't have the opportunity to alter team culture.”
With each passing day that passes thoughts are increasingly concentrated on the looming critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team coming in is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Chester echoed this he felt the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team executing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on forward movement after that.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Drive
In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a tandem remarkable for their invaluable experience in competing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be probably a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I am confident with this structure, with these individuals, these people, there is every reason that we won't be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in full swing, with personnel now up to in excess of 400 and intended to hit the target of six hundred quickly. Alongside their present headquarters at Silverstone, the squad are in the phase of building an headquarters at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to manufacture the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will use Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a intricate structure, contrary to the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Chester referred to.
Apollo Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” remarked the team principal ahead of the British GP in July. “We’re realistic, we recognize how difficult it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a range of specialist groups all focusing on different aspects of the program at a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a process where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their manager, that manager consults a leader at a different location, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” notes Nick Chester. “We give authority to people to really get on with it. Avoiding management approval for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this flexible approach will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a significant degree on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the young American Colton Herta
