Just over one year ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the green light as the world of Formula One's latest entrant for 2026. Constructing the squad from nothing has required a frenetic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be held in the United States, with around a hundred 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 cognizant there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent operation in the spring of 2023 not long after it was established, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core since then and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the experience.
“There might be a short period reflecting at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we have built in under three years,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, there is still a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Chester had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has truly matched the mission of bringing the all-American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the owner, GM, into F1.
“Establishing an Formula One team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you rarely get the possibility to transform cultural approach.”
With each day that passes thoughts are sharper on the impending decisive point in Melbourne and goals are being handled.
“One must presume that any incoming team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” the team principal noted this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he believed the team had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we should be there,” he says. “So that we arrive and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the right things on the circuit. After we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Drive
In the summer they contracted Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their racers for 2026, a pair notable for their priceless expertise in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he said. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be probably a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we’re not there to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with this group, these people, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in top gear, with employees now at over 400 and intended to hit the target of six hundred quickly. In addition to their present headquarters at the UK base, the team are in the phase of building an main base at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to manufacture the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a sophisticated structure, contrary to the direction in F1 for more centralization, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Chester referred.
NASA Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked the team principal just before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how difficult it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the project 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 leader consults a supervisor somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” notes the CTO. “Therefore we enable people to take charge. Avoiding managerial sign-off for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this agile approach will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is no little amount on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
