Approximately one year previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally given the official approval as Formula One’s latest entry for 2026. Establishing the team from the ground up has entailed a intense work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the season finale of the championship to be hosted in the America, with approximately 100 days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne 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 cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic project in March 2023 soon after it was formed, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a amused expression when thinking about the journey.
“You can have a brief moment thinking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “And then the next minute you think: ‘Yes, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning years of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical direction at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the parent company, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you won't have the opportunity to transform team culture.”
With every day that goes by minds are more focused on the looming moment of truth in Melbourne and targets are being handled.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Chester echoed this he believed the organization had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate progression subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Push
In late summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in operating at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver echoed the attitude of combative optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We face a mountain of work to do, and we expect probably a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident given this organization, with this team, these personnel, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in overdrive, with personnel now at over 400 and scheduled to attain the target of 600 members quickly. In addition to their present headquarters at Silverstone, the team are in the phase of finishing an main base at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to produce the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organisation, different from the trend in the sport for more centralization, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” stated Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we know how difficult it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a decentralized management akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of project teams all tackling different aspects of the mission in a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their manager, that manager talks to a manager at a different location, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” explains Nick Chester. “We give authority to people to really get on with it. Moving away from management approval for everything is so much cleaner and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible approach will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
