A little more than one year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Building the team from nothing has involved a intense work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As the sport arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the campaign to be held in the America, with approximately a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are cognizant there will not be sufficient time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed team in March 2023 not long after it was established, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart from that point and has a wry smile when thinking about the ride.
“You might get a short period looking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we have built in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Well, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Nick Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Alonso's victorious seasons of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical direction at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the challenge of bringing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the parent company, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing 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 well-set team you rarely get the opportunity to change team culture.”
With each passing day that passes minds are sharper on the approaching decisive point in Melbourne and targets are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any new team joining the grid is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he felt the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he says. “In order that we show up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the track. When we prove that we’re really credible, then we want to show improvement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Push
In late summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their racers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their vast knowledge in competing at the front in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We have a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to finish last. In my view with this setup, with this team, this staff, there is every reason that we can't manage to progress rapidly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in full swing, with staff now at more than 400 and intended to hit the goal of 600 members swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the process of building an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are constructing the facility to build the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, contrary to the trend in the sport for greater centralisation, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Chester alluded.
Apollo Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in July. “We are pragmatic, we know how difficult it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of Apollo teams all working on distinct elements of the project in a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they escalate it to their team leader, that leader talks to a leader at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” notes the CTO. “So we empower staff to take charge. Moving away from managerial sign-off for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible strategy will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
