A little more than one year previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last awarded the go-ahead as Formula One’s most recent participant for the 2026 season. Establishing the team from nothing has entailed a hectic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As Formula One descends on Las Vegas this weekend, the team understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be staged in the America, with around 100 days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic team in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and gets a wry smile when considering the ride.
“You might get a short period looking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we have built in under three years,’” he notes. “But then the very next instant you think: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
The CTO achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Building an grand prix team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you won't have the opportunity to change cultural approach.”
With each day that elapses minds are more focused on the looming decisive point in Melbourne and targets are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any incoming team entering the sport is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while the CTO shared this view he believed the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So that we show up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we are a serious contender performing the proper actions on the track. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Effort
In August they signed Checo Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their vast knowledge in competing at the front in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas echoed the mood of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be probably a tough opening, because it is F1. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. In my view with this setup, with these individuals, these personnel, there’s no reason why we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To that end hiring has been in overdrive, with staff now up to in excess of 400 and planned to reach the target of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the phase of finishing an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to build the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will run power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a complex organisation, at odds with the direction in F1 for more centralization, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which the CTO alluded.
Apollo Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” remarked the team principal ahead of the British GP in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how difficult it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all focusing on distinct elements of the program at a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a process where an issue arises and they raise it up to their supervisor, that supervisor communicates with a manager somewhere else, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” notes Nick Chester. “We give authority to staff to really get on with it. Eliminating managerial sign-off for everything is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this agile methodology will be proven in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is a considerable amount riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
