Just over twelve months in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately awarded the green light as the world of Formula One's latest entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from nothing has involved a intense work rate 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 Race Against Time to Australia
At the season finale of the championship to be held in the America, with around 100 days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed operation in the spring of 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and has a knowing grin when thinking about the ride.
“You might get a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Well, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the mission of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the parent company, GM, into F1.
“Building an F1 team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you won't have the chance to change cultural approach.”
With each day that elapses thoughts are more focused on the impending decisive point in Australia and expectations are being managed.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted recently and while Chester shared this view he thought the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we should be there,” he says. “So we arrive and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team executing the right things on the track. When we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on improvement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Effort
In late summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their vast knowledge in performing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We face a massive task to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to finish last. I believe with this structure, with this team, these personnel, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To that end hiring has been in full swing, with staff now up to over 400 and intended to attain the objective of 600 rapidly. Alongside their present headquarters at the UK base, the organization are in the midst of finishing an HQ at Fishers in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are constructing the center to build the 2029 engine, set for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will run Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organization, at odds with the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO alluded.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” stated Graeme Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we understand how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, rather than the traditional management structure, a flat management structure comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all focusing on various components of the program at a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a process where an issue arises and they escalate it to their supervisor, that supervisor communicates with a leader somewhere else, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” explains Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable people to really get on with it. Avoiding managerial sign-off for all decisions is so much cleaner and quicker.”
The Future
The success of this nimble strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a significant degree on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
