Just over one year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the go-ahead as Formula One’s most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from nothing has required a frenetic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport arrives on Las Vegas this weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the season finale of the championship to be staged in the America, with around 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the nascent team in the spring of 2023 not long after it was created, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core since then and gets a knowing grin when thinking about the ride.
“There might be a short period thinking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” he says. “And then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Chester had success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the challenge of launching the all-American Cadillac name, a factory team supported by the owner, GM, into Formula One.
“Creating an grand prix team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you won't have the chance to change team culture.”
With every day that passes minds are sharper on the impending decisive point in the Australian GP and goals are being handled.
“One must presume that any incoming team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So that we turn up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team performing the correct procedures on the track. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Effort
In August they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver echoed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident given this organization, with this team, these personnel, there is every reason that we can't manage to progress rapidly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with staff now at over 400 and planned to reach the goal of 600 quickly. Complementing their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the process of finishing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the center to produce the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a intricate organisation, different from the movement in F1 for increased consolidation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred.
Apollo Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of project teams all focusing on different aspects of the mission at a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their manager, that supervisor talks to a leader somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” says Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to handle things directly. Avoiding managerial sign-off for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be evaluated in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a considerable amount at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
