Just over one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last awarded the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Building the team from the ground up has required a frenetic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As F1 descends on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the season to be hosted in the US, 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 made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are aware there will never be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its core since then and gets a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he says. “Then the next minute you realize: ‘Yes, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
Chester had success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has truly matched the mission of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a factory team backed by the corporate entity, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an grand prix team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you won't have the chance to change cultural approach.”
With every day that goes by minds are increasingly concentrated on the looming decisive point in Australia and goals are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented this year and while Chester shared this view he believed the team had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So we arrive and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender doing the right things on the track. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we want to show progression subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Effort
In the summer they contracted Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a duo distinguished for their priceless expertise in competing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and we expect most likely a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident given this organization, with these individuals, this staff, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and taste victory.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in full swing, with personnel now reaching more than 400 and intended to reach the target of 600 members rapidly. In addition to 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 GM works in Charlotte, where they are building the center to manufacture the power unit, planned for the 2029 season – until then they will run power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, different from the trend in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester alluded.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” remarked Lowdon just before the British Grand Prix in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how challenging it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, rather than the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all working on different aspects of the project across a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a process where an issue arises and they report it to their supervisor, that supervisor talks to a leader somewhere else, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” notes the CTO. “So we empower people to handle things directly. Eliminating hierarchical consent for each action is so much cleaner and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this agile methodology will be tested in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
