Approximately twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the go-ahead as Formula One’s newest entrant for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from nothing has entailed a hectic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the championship to be staged in the America, with approximately three months to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed team in March 2023 shortly after it was established, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core from that point and enjoys a amused expression when thinking about the journey.
“There might be a short period reflecting at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Well, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the challenge of bringing the all-American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, 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. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you rarely get the opportunity to transform cultural approach.”
With each day that goes by focus are more focused on the looming moment of truth in Melbourne and targets are being managed.
“One must presume that any new team coming in is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated recently and while Chester shared this view he felt the team had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “So we turn up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we’re a proper team doing the right things on the circuit. After we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on forward movement after that.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Effort
In August they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a duo notable for their priceless expertise in operating at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver echoed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We face a massive task to do, and it’s going to be most likely a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to finish last. I believe with this structure, with this group, this staff, there is every reason that we can't manage to progress rapidly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in full swing, with employees now up to more than 400 and planned to reach the target of six hundred quickly. In addition to their existing facility at the UK base, the squad are in the phase of building an main base at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the center to build the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will run power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organization, different from the direction in F1 for more centralization, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said Graeme Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we know how challenging it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, instead of the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of project teams all working on distinct elements of the program at a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a procedure where an issue arises and they raise it up to their manager, that supervisor consults a leader somewhere else, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” explains the CTO. “Therefore we enable team members to handle things directly. Eliminating managerial sign-off for everything is much smoother and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this agile approach will be evaluated in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the young American Colton Herta
