A little more than one year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally given the green light as Formula One’s most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Building the team from the ground up has involved a hectic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the season finale of the championship to be hosted in the United States, with approximately three months to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are aware there will never be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic operation in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and has a knowing grin when considering the ride.
“There might be a short period thinking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we’ve done in under three years,’” he notes. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Well, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has truly matched the challenge of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a works entry sponsored by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you rarely get the possibility to alter cultural approach.”
With every day that elapses focus are sharper on the impending critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon noted recently and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we show up and we operate well. We want to show that we’re a proper team performing the right things on the circuit. When we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on forward movement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Effort
In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it’s going to be most likely a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. In my view with this setup, with this group, this staff, there’s no reason why we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with staff now at more than 400 and planned to reach the goal of 600 members quickly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the team are in the midst of building an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to produce the power unit, set for 2029 – until then they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, at odds with the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester alluded.
Apollo Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated the team principal shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we recognize how challenging it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, rather than the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the project in a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a process where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their manager, that supervisor consults a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” says Chester. “We give authority to people to handle things directly. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible approach will be tested in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is no little amount riding on this for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta