A little more than a full year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the official approval as Formula One’s most recent participant for 2026. Establishing the organization from nothing has involved a frenetic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport arrives on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the championship to be hosted in the United States, with around 100 days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are conscious there will never be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed team in early 2023 not long after it was created, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core from that point and enjoys a knowing grin when thinking about the experience.
“You might get five minutes thinking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “And then the next minute you think: ‘Well, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Chester had success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of the mid-2000s and was in charge of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the mission of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a factory team backed by the corporate entity, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you don’t get the chance to alter organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that elapses thoughts are more focused on the approaching moment of truth in the Australian GP and targets are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal stated earlier this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team doing the proper actions on the track. Once we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate improvement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Push
In the summer they recruited Checo Pérez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a duo notable for their vast knowledge in competing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Bottas reflected the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he said. “We have a massive task to do, and it’s going to be most likely a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. In my view with this setup, with these individuals, these people, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with staff now reaching in excess of 400 and intended to reach the objective of 600 members swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at Silverstone, the squad are in the process of finishing an main base at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to manufacture the power unit, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, contrary to the trend in Formula One for more centralization, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we know how challenging it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, instead of the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of project teams all focusing on different aspects of the mission at a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a process where an issue arises and they raise it up to their manager, that leader consults a leader in another department, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” says Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for each action is much smoother and quicker.”
The Future
The efficacy of this agile methodology will be evaluated in the pressure of racing next season and there is a considerable amount on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their development driver the young American Colton Herta
