A little more than twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last awarded the green light as Formula One’s newest entrant for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from nothing has involved a hectic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the season finale of the championship to be held in the US, with just over 100 days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent operation in early 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its center from that point and gets a wry smile when reflecting on the journey.
“You can have five minutes reflecting at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he says. “And then the next minute you think: ‘Yes, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
Nick Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical development at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has quite compared with the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a works entry backed by the owner, General Motors, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you won't have the opportunity to change cultural approach.”
With each passing day that goes by focus are sharper on the looming critical moment in Melbourne and targets are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated this year and while the CTO shared this view he thought the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So that we show up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team doing the right things on the circuit. When we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate progression subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Drive
In the summer they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers 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, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the mood of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We have a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a tough opening, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I am confident with this setup, with this group, this staff, there’s no reason why we won't be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with personnel now reaching more than 400 and planned to attain the goal of 600 members swiftly. Alongside their current base at the UK base, the squad are in the phase of building an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to manufacture the new engine, planned for 2029 – for now they will use Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, at odds with the direction in the sport for increased consolidation, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred.
NASA Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” remarked Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in July. “We’re realistic, we know how challenging it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of project teams all focusing on distinct elements of the mission across a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a procedure where an issue arises and they raise it up to their manager, that manager communicates with a leader in another department, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” says Chester. “So we empower team members to handle things directly. Moving away from managerial sign-off for everything is so much cleaner and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile methodology will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a considerable amount on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
