Just over one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last awarded the official approval as the world of Formula One's latest participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from nothing has entailed a intense work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport arrives on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the season to be staged in the US, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are cognizant there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic operation in early 2023 soon after it was formed, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a knowing grin when considering the journey.
“You can have a short period thinking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we have built in under three years,’” he says. “But then the very next instant you realize: ‘Yeah, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the challenge of launching the iconic American Cadillac marque, a works entry backed by the owner, General Motors, into F1.
“Building an F1 team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you won't have the possibility to alter organizational mindset.”
With every day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the approaching decisive point in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon commented earlier this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he thought the squad had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “In order that we show up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate improvement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push
In late summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in performing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas expressed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and we expect probably a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I believe with this structure, with this group, this staff, there is every reason that we won't be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to over 400 and intended to reach the objective of six hundred rapidly. Alongside their present headquarters at Silverstone, the organization are in the phase of building an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to manufacture the power unit, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate structure, different from the direction in the sport for increased consolidation, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.
Apollo Model
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” said the team principal shortly before the British GP in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how difficult it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of project teams all working on distinct elements of the project across a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a process where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their team leader, that supervisor talks to a manager somewhere else, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” explains the CTO. “Therefore we enable staff to handle things directly. Moving away from management approval for all decisions is much smoother and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this nimble approach will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is no little amount at stake for F1, too. Cadillac have taken on as their test driver the young American Colton Herta
