A little more than a full year ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last given the green light as the world of Formula One's most recent entry for 2026. Building the squad from nothing has entailed a intense pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the final race of the championship to be hosted in the America, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the nascent team in early 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core since then and has a wry smile when considering the ride.
“You can have a brief moment looking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we have built in less than three years,’” he notes. “But then the following moment you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious years of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has quite compared with the mission of launching the iconic American Cadillac marque, a factory team sponsored by the corporate entity, GM, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you don’t get the chance to transform team culture.”
With each passing day that goes by thoughts are more focused on the impending moment of truth in the Australian GP and goals are being handled.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So we turn up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team doing the right things on the circuit. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on forward movement after that.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Push
In late summer they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver echoed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe with this structure, with this group, this staff, there’s no reason why we won't be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in full swing, with personnel now at more than 400 and planned to reach the objective of 600 members swiftly. In addition to their existing facility at the UK base, the organization are in the phase of completing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are constructing the center to build the power unit, scheduled for the 2029 season – for now they will run power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a complex organisation, different from the movement in F1 for increased consolidation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred.
NASA Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated Graeme Lowdon just before the British GP in the summer. “We’re realistic, we understand how tough it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of specialist groups all working on various components of the program in a different facilities.
“When you must follow a procedure where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their supervisor, that leader communicates with a supervisor at a different location, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” explains Chester. “So we empower staff to take charge. Moving away from hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile strategy will be proven in the pressure of racing next season and there is no little amount at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the emerging American Colton Herta
