🔗 Share this article

Just over a full year previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately granted the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for the 2026 season. Building the team from nothing has entailed a intense operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac are aware time is getting tight.

The Countdown to Melbourne

At the last event of the campaign to be held in the America, with just over three months to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.

The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic operation in March 2023 shortly after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and gets a amused expression when considering the experience.

“You might get a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Amazing, how impressive what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you realize: ‘Yes, we still have a significant amount to do.’”

A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity

The CTO achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical development at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the mission of introducing the all-American Cadillac name, a factory team backed by the parent company, General Motors, into Formula One.

“Establishing an Formula One team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you don’t get the chance to change organizational mindset.”

With each passing day that passes thoughts are sharper on the approaching critical moment in the Australian GP and expectations are being managed.

“You have to assume that any incoming team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” the team principal stated this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he felt the organization had a point to prove as well.

“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we show up and we operate well. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation doing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on forward movement from there on.”

Pilot Selection and Team Building Effort

In the summer they signed Checo Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for the 2026 season, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in competing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the mood of fighting spirit.

“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We have a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I am confident with this setup, with this group, these people, there is every reason that we can't manage to get relatively quickly to the front and enjoy some success.”

To achieve that goal recruitment has been in full swing, with personnel now at more than 400 and planned to attain the objective of six hundred quickly. Complementing their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the phase of building an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are building the facility to build the new engine, planned for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate organisation, contrary to the direction in F1 for increased consolidation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred.

Space Mission Model

“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we recognize how challenging it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”

So they have adopted, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the mission across a different facilities.

“If you have to go through a protocol where an issue arises and they report it to their team leader, that leader talks to a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes Nick Chester. “We give authority to team members to take charge. Avoiding management approval for all decisions is much smoother and quicker.”

What Lies Ahead

The efficacy of this nimble strategy will be proven in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is a significant degree on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta