Just over one year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent entry for 2026. Building the organization from nothing has entailed a frenetic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be held in the America, with just over a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed project in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and has a amused expression when reflecting on the journey.
“You might get five minutes looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he says. “Then the following moment you realize: ‘Yeah, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical development at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the mission of bringing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a works entry sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Building an F1 team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you won't have the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that elapses focus are more focused on the impending moment of truth in Melbourne and goals are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated recently and while the CTO shared this view he believed the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So that we turn up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we are a serious contender doing the proper actions on the track. Once we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show forward movement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Drive
In late summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in operating at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he said. “We have a massive task to do, and we expect probably a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to finish last. I believe with this setup, with these individuals, this staff, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in overdrive, with personnel now at in excess of 400 and planned to hit the goal of six hundred rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the team are in the phase of finishing an HQ at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to build the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – until then they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, different from the movement in F1 for more centralization, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” said Lowdon shortly before the British GP in July. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, instead of the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all tackling different aspects of the project in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their supervisor, that supervisor consults a manager in another department, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” says Chester. “So we empower people to take charge. Eliminating managerial sign-off for everything is far more efficient and faster.”
The Future
The success of this agile strategy will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is no little amount riding on this for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
