Approximately one year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Building the squad from nothing has entailed a intense operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the final race of the season to be hosted in the US, with approximately 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent operation in March 2023 soon after it was formed, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart from that point and has a knowing grin when thinking about the journey.
“You can have five minutes thinking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we have built in under three years,’” Chester states. “And then the very next instant you realize: ‘Well, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
Chester had success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical development at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the challenge of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a works entry sponsored by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an grand prix team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you won't have the possibility to change organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that goes by minds are increasingly concentrated on the approaching decisive point in the Australian GP and targets are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any incoming team coming in is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated recently and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we turn up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team performing the right things on the circuit. When we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate improvement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Drive
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for the 2026 season, a tandem notable for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Bottas echoed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I am confident with this setup, with this team, these personnel, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with employees now up to over 400 and scheduled to attain the goal of six hundred swiftly. Complementing their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the process of completing an main base at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are developing the center to manufacture the new engine, set for the 2029 season – for now they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex structure, at odds with the trend in Formula One for more centralization, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.
Space Mission Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” stated Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we understand how difficult it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of project teams all working on various components of the project at a different facilities.
“When you must follow a process where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that manager communicates with a leader in another department, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes the CTO. “So we empower staff to take charge. Moving away from management approval for each action is far more efficient and more rapid.”
The Future
The effectiveness of this agile approach will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is no little amount on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
