Just over twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally given the green light as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for 2026. Building the organization from scratch has involved a frenetic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As the sport arrives on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the season finale of the season to be hosted in the America, with approximately a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic project in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was created, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart since then and gets a wry smile when reflecting on the experience.
“There might be five minutes looking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we have built in less than three years,’” he notes. “But then the following moment you consider: ‘Yeah, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has been quite like the mission of introducing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a works entry supported by the corporate entity, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Establishing an Formula One team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you don’t get the opportunity to alter team culture.”
With every day that passes focus are sharper on the looming decisive point in the Australian GP and goals are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team joining the grid is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” the team principal noted this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he felt the team had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the right things on the race track. When we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate progression subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Drive
In late summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their invaluable experience in performing at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver reflected the mood of determined optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be most likely a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I believe with this setup, with these individuals, this staff, there’s no reason why we can't manage to advance swiftly to the front and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with employees now reaching more than 400 and scheduled to hit the goal of 600 members quickly. Alongside their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the midst of completing an headquarters at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are developing the center to manufacture the power unit, planned for 2029 – until then they will run Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a complex structure, at odds with the trend in Formula One for more centralization, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred.
NASA Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how challenging it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all working on different aspects of the mission at a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they report it to their manager, that supervisor talks to a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” says the CTO. “So we empower people to really get on with it. Avoiding managerial sign-off for all decisions is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this nimble methodology will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
