A little more than a full year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the official approval as Formula One’s latest entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from nothing has required a frenetic operating tempo that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As Formula One arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the final race of the championship to be staged in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are aware there will never be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed project in the spring of 2023 not long after it was formed, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its center ever since and has a amused expression when considering the journey.
“You can have a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we have built in under three years,’” he says. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the mission of launching the iconic American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the owner, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you won't have the chance to alter cultural approach.”
With every day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the impending moment of truth in Australia and expectations are being managed.
“One must presume that any new team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon stated this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he believed the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “So we turn up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we are a serious contender performing the correct procedures on the track. After we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Drive
In August they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their racers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their invaluable experience in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he said. “We face a massive task to do, and it’s going to be most likely a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. In my view given this organization, with these individuals, this staff, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To that end recruitment has been in full swing, with personnel now reaching more than 400 and planned to hit the goal of 600 members swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at Silverstone, the team are in the midst of completing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the center to manufacture the power unit, planned for the 2029 season – for now they will use Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a complex structure, different from the movement in F1 for greater centralisation, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred to.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” said Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how tough it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of NASA's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all focusing on distinct elements of the project across a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they escalate it to their team leader, that supervisor consults a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” explains Nick Chester. “We give authority to team members to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and faster.”
The Future
The success of this flexible strategy will be evaluated in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree riding on this for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
