A little more than one year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately granted the go-ahead as F1's most recent participant for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from nothing has involved a intense operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the championship to be held in the America, with around 100 days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are cognizant there will not be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in early 2023 not long after it was formed, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core since then and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the journey.
“You might get a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Amazing, how impressive what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “And then the following moment you realize: ‘Yeah, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's championship-winning years of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the task of introducing the all-American Cadillac name, a works entry supported by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Building an Formula One team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you won't have the possibility to alter cultural approach.”
With every day that goes by focus are increasingly concentrated on the approaching moment of truth in Australia and goals are being managed.
“One must presume that any new team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated recently and while the CTO shared this view he believed the team had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we show up and we operate well. We want to show that we are a serious contender doing the right things on the race track. When we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we want to show forward movement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Drive
In the summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for the 2026 season, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in competing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Bottas expressed the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he said. “We face 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 finish last. In my view with this setup, with this group, these personnel, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to the front and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in top gear, with employees now at in excess of 400 and planned to attain the goal of 600 members quickly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the squad are in the phase of completing an main base at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are constructing the center to produce the power unit, set for the 2029 season – for now they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the trend in F1 for more centralization, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Chester referred to.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked Graeme Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how difficult it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, instead of the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all working on various components of the project in a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a process where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their team leader, that manager communicates with a manager somewhere else, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” notes Chester. “We give authority to people to take charge. Moving away from hierarchical consent for all decisions is so much cleaner and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible approach will be evaluated in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the young Californian Colton Herta
