Approximately twelve months in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the official approval as Formula One’s latest entry for 2026. Constructing the organization from nothing has required a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the championship to be held in the US, with around 100 days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed team in early 2023 soon after it was established, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart from that point and gets a knowing grin when reflecting on the experience.
“There might be a brief moment reflecting at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in under three years,’” Chester states. “And then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the challenge of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team backed by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an grand prix team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you rarely get the chance to transform team culture.”
With each day that elapses minds are increasingly concentrated on the approaching critical moment in Australia and goals are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad entering the sport is going to be last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon commented recently and while Nick Chester shared this view he thought the team had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we turn up and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender executing the right things on the track. Once we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate improvement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In late summer they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for the 2026 season, a pair notable for their vast knowledge in performing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to finish last. I believe with this setup, with this group, this staff, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in top gear, with personnel now reaching over 400 and intended to reach the objective of 600 quickly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the organization are in the phase of finishing an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the plant to produce the new engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will run power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, different from the trend in F1 for greater centralisation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred.
Apollo Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how difficult it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, instead of the traditional management structure, a decentralized management similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the project across a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they raise it up to their team leader, that manager consults a leader somewhere else, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” notes Nick Chester. “So we empower staff to take charge. Eliminating managerial sign-off for each action is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile methodology will be evaluated in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is a considerable amount riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
