Just over a full year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally given the green light as Formula One’s latest participant for 2026. Constructing the squad from the ground up has entailed a intense pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on Vegas this weekend, the team know time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with approximately a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are conscious there will not be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed team in the spring of 2023 not long after it was created, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and has a wry smile when thinking about the experience.
“There might be a short period thinking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in less than three years,’” Chester states. “And then the very next instant you realize: ‘Well, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical development at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team backed by the corporate entity, GM, into Formula One.
“Establishing an Formula One team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you don’t get the opportunity to change organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that elapses thoughts are more focused on the impending critical moment in the Australian GP and goals are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while Nick Chester shared this view he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “In order that we arrive and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the circuit. Once we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push
In August they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for the 2026 season, a tandem notable for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas echoed the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We face a massive task to do, and we expect probably a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I believe with this setup, with this group, this staff, it's entirely possible we won't be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in full swing, with employees now reaching more than 400 and intended to attain the goal of 600 swiftly. Alongside their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the phase of building an HQ at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are building the center to produce the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – for now they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organization, different from the movement in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Chester referred to.
NASA Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said the team principal shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we know how difficult it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all working on distinct elements of the program at a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they escalate it to their team leader, that manager talks to a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” says Chester. “We give authority to team members to handle things directly. Moving away from management approval for everything is far more efficient and faster.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this flexible approach will be evaluated in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a considerable amount riding on this for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
