Approximately twelve months in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last granted the official approval as Formula One’s latest participant for the 2026 season. Building the squad from nothing has required a intense pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the season finale of the campaign to be hosted in the US, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are conscious there will not be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent project in early 2023 soon after it was established, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center from that point and enjoys a wry smile when considering the journey.
“You can have a short period thinking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he says. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Yeah, there is still a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical direction at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the task of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a factory team supported by the parent company, GM, into Formula One.
“Building an F1 team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you don’t get the opportunity to alter team culture.”
With each passing day that passes focus are more focused on the looming moment of truth in Melbourne and expectations are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad entering the sport is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he felt the organization had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So we turn up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the right things on the race track. When we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Effort
In the summer they signed Checo Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We have a massive task to do, and it will likely be most likely a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I am confident given this organization, with these individuals, these people, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To that end hiring has been in full swing, with staff now at over 400 and planned to reach the goal of 600 members quickly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the organization are in the process of building an HQ at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are building the center to produce the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will run power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated structure, contrary to the trend in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred.
Apollo Model
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” remarked Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how difficult it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, instead of the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all focusing on different aspects of the program in a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a process where an issue arises and they report it to their manager, that leader communicates with a supervisor at a different location, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” notes Chester. “So we empower staff to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this flexible strategy will be tested in the heat of competition next season and there is a significant degree on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
