A little more than twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the official approval as the world of Formula One's latest entry for 2026. Establishing the squad from nothing has required a intense operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One arrives on the Vegas strip this race weekend, the team understand the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the last event of the championship to be held in the America, with just over three months to go before they make their debut for the first time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic project in March 2023 shortly after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and gets a amused expression when thinking about the experience.
“You might get a brief moment looking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you realize: ‘Yes, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Nick Chester had success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a factory team sponsored by the owner, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an grand prix team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you rarely get the possibility to alter cultural approach.”
With each passing day that elapses focus are increasingly concentrated on the approaching critical moment in the Australian GP and goals are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any new team coming in is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated recently and while Nick Chester echoed this he thought the team had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So that we turn up and we operate well. We want to show that we are a serious contender doing the proper actions on the race track. When we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on forward movement from there on.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Effort
In the summer they signed Sergio Perez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Bottas reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and we expect most likely a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to finish last. I believe with this structure, with this team, these people, there is every reason that we won't be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in full swing, with employees now at over 400 and intended to hit the objective of 600 members quickly. Alongside their existing facility at Silverstone, the organization are in the process of completing an headquarters at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to produce the power unit, planned for 2029 – for now they will run power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated structure, different from the movement in the sport for more centralization, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” said Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how difficult it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all focusing on distinct elements of the mission across a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their manager, that supervisor communicates with a manager somewhere else, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” says Nick Chester. “So we empower people to really get on with it. Moving away from hierarchical consent for each action is so much cleaner and faster.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this nimble strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is no little amount on the line for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
