🔗 Share this article

Just over twelve months previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately awarded the official approval as Formula One’s newest entry for the 2026 season. Building the organization from nothing has involved a frenetic operating tempo that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.

The Race Against Time to Australia

At the last event of the campaign to be held in the US, with around three months to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.

The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed operation in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its core from that point and enjoys a amused expression when reflecting on the ride.

“There might be a brief moment thinking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we have built in under three years,’” he says. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a significant amount to do.’”

A Unique Challenge

Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical development at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the mission of introducing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a factory team sponsored by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.

“Creating an grand prix team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you don’t get the chance to alter team culture.”

With each passing day that elapses minds are more focused on the approaching moment of truth in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.

“You have to assume that any incoming team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon commented earlier this year and while the CTO shared this view he felt the squad had a statement to make as well.

“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So we show up and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender performing the correct procedures on the circuit. Once we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate improvement subsequently.”

Pilot Selection and Hiring Drive

In the summer they recruited Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for the 2026 season, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in operating at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the attitude of determined optimism.

“Of course, we’re realistic,” he said. “We face a massive task to do, and it’s going to be most likely a difficult start, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to finish last. I believe with this setup, with these individuals, these people, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and taste victory.”

To achieve that goal hiring has been in full swing, with staff now reaching over 400 and planned to hit the target of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the phase of finishing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are developing the center to build the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – for now they will run power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred to.

Space Mission Inspiration

“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said Graeme Lowdon just before the British GP in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how tough it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”

So they have embraced, instead of the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all focusing on different aspects of the mission across a variety of locations.

“When you must follow a process where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their team leader, that supervisor communicates with a manager at a different location, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” says Nick Chester. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Moving away from hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and quicker.”

The Future

The success of this nimble strategy will be evaluated in the pressure of racing next season and there is a considerable amount at stake for the sport, too. Cadillac have taken on as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta