Approximately one year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last awarded the go-ahead as Formula One’s most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Establishing the team from nothing has entailed a hectic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 descends on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be held in the United States, with just over three months to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the nascent operation in the spring of 2023 soon after it was established, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and has a wry smile when considering the journey.
“You might get a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we have built in under three years,’” he notes. “Then the very next instant you consider: ‘Well, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
The CTO had success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning years of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the challenge of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a works entry sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you rarely get the chance to transform cultural approach.”
With every day that elapses thoughts are more focused on the approaching critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“One must presume that any incoming team coming in is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he believed the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “So we arrive and we perform competently. We want to show that we are a serious contender executing the proper actions on the circuit. After we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Drive
In the summer they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a duo distinguished for their vast knowledge in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I am confident with this structure, with this group, this staff, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in top gear, with staff now reaching more than 400 and planned to hit the objective of 600 quickly. In addition to their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the midst of building an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are constructing the center to manufacture the power unit, planned for 2029 – for now they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO alluded.
Apollo Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” stated Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a decentralized management similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all working on different aspects of the project across a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where a challenge emerges and they report it to their team leader, that manager consults a manager at a different location, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” explains Nick Chester. “We give authority to team members to really get on with it. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is far more efficient and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this flexible approach will be proven in the heat of competition next season and there is no little amount on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their test driver the emerging American Colton Herta
