Approximately one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately awarded the green light as Formula One’s most recent entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from the ground up has involved a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 arrives on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the last event of the season to be held in the United States, with just over three months to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are aware there will never be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent operation in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its center from that point and enjoys a amused expression when reflecting on the journey.
“You can have five minutes thinking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he says. “And then the very next instant you realize: ‘Yeah, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has been quite like the mission of bringing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team backed by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Establishing an Formula One team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you won't have the possibility to change organizational mindset.”
With each day that passes focus are more focused on the impending critical moment in Australia and targets are being handled.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” the team principal stated recently and while Chester echoed this he thought the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So that we arrive and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation executing the right things on the circuit. When we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Effort
In the summer they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their racers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver echoed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We face a massive task to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a difficult start, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I am confident given this organization, with this team, these people, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in top gear, with personnel now reaching more than 400 and intended to reach the goal of 600 rapidly. Complementing their present headquarters at the UK base, the team are in the process of finishing an main base at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to produce the power unit, set for 2029 – for now they will run power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a complex organisation, different from the trend in F1 for greater centralisation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester alluded.
Apollo Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in July. “We’re realistic, we understand how difficult it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all focusing on distinct elements of the mission in a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they report it to their manager, that leader talks to a leader at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” notes Chester. “We give authority to team members to take charge. Avoiding managerial sign-off for everything is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile approach will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a considerable amount at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the young Californian Colton Herta
