Approximately twelve months in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the official approval as F1's latest entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from nothing has required a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the season to be held 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 advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed team in March 2023 shortly after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core from that point and gets a wry smile when considering the ride.
“You might get a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we have built in under three years,’” he notes. “But then the following moment you think: ‘Well, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
The CTO achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the mission of launching the all-American Cadillac name, a factory team sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors, into F1.
“Establishing an F1 team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you don’t get the chance to transform cultural approach.”
With every day that passes focus are more focused on the approaching moment of truth in the Australian GP and targets are being set realistically.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he thought the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he says. “So that we arrive and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team doing the right things on the circuit. When we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate improvement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Drive
In the summer they signed Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a tandem notable for their vast knowledge in operating at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver expressed the mood of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a difficult start, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I believe given this organization, with this team, these personnel, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to the front and taste victory.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in top gear, with employees now at in excess of 400 and intended to attain the objective of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the phase of building an main base at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the center to produce the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, contrary to the trend in the sport for greater centralisation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how challenging it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, rather than the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the mission at a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a protocol where a challenge emerges and they report it to their team leader, that leader consults a manager somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” says the CTO. “We give authority to people to take charge. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is much smoother and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be tested in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a significant degree on the line for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their test driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
