Just over twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last awarded the green light as Formula One’s newest entrant for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from scratch has involved a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One arrives on Vegas this weekend, the team are aware time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be hosted in the United States, with just over a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, 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, became part of the newly formed operation in early 2023 soon after it was formed, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its center from that point and has a knowing grin when considering the ride.
“You can have a short period looking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Wow, how impressive what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “And then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Chester had success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical direction at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the mission of bringing the all-American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Building an grand prix team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you rarely get the opportunity to transform cultural approach.”
With each passing day that passes thoughts are sharper on the looming decisive point in Australia and targets are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team coming in is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated this year and while the CTO shared this view he believed the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team doing the right things on the race track. After we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on progression subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Push
In late summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in competing at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the mood of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he said. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to finish last. I believe with this setup, with this team, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with employees now reaching more than 400 and planned to reach the objective of 600 rapidly. Alongside their existing facility at Silverstone, the squad are in the midst of completing an main base at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are building the plant to build the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – until then they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate structure, different from the movement in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred.
NASA Model
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all working on distinct elements of the program at a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they escalate it to their team leader, that leader communicates with a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” says Chester. “We give authority to team members to take charge. Moving away from managerial sign-off for each action is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this agile approach will be evaluated in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is no little amount on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
