A little more than one year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the official approval as F1's newest entry for 2026. Establishing the team from nothing has entailed a intense pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As Formula One arrives on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be staged in the America, with approximately 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic operation in early 2023 soon after it was established, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core from that point and has a amused expression when reflecting on the journey.
“You can have a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “Then the next minute you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
Nick Chester had success at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Establishing an grand prix team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you don’t get the opportunity to transform team culture.”
With each day that elapses focus are sharper on the approaching decisive point in the Australian GP and goals are being managed.
“You have to assume that any new team coming in is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented this year and while Chester shared this view he felt the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he says. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We want to show that we’re a proper team executing the correct procedures on the track. When we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we want to show forward movement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Effort
In late summer they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in performing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver echoed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe with this setup, with these individuals, this staff, it's entirely possible we can't manage to advance swiftly to the front and taste victory.”
To that end recruitment has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to over 400 and intended to hit the goal of 600 members swiftly. Complementing their current base at Silverstone, the squad are in the midst of completing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are building the facility to produce the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – until then they will use power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a intricate organization, at odds with the movement in the sport for greater centralisation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
Apollo Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” remarked the team principal ahead of the British GP in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we understand how challenging it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, rather than the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of specialist groups all focusing on different aspects of the mission at a different facilities.
“When you must follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their supervisor, that manager consults a manager at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” says Nick Chester. “So we empower people to handle things directly. Moving away from managerial sign-off for everything is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this flexible strategy will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is no little amount at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta
