Approximately twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the green light as F1's newest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from nothing has required a frenetic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be held in the US, with just over a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in early 2023 not long after it was established, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its center since then and has a amused expression when considering the ride.
“You can have a brief moment thinking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in under three years,’” he says. “But then the very next instant you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
The CTO achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the task of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the owner, General Motors, into F1.
“Building an F1 team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you don’t get the possibility to alter team culture.”
With each day that elapses focus are sharper on the impending critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any new team entering the sport is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” the team principal commented recently and while Chester shared this view he thought the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So we turn up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team executing the proper actions on the circuit. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we want to show forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Push
In late summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver expressed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a difficult start, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I believe given this organization, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with employees now reaching more than 400 and planned to reach the target of 600 members swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the phase of completing an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated structure, at odds with the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred.
Apollo Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated the team principal shortly before the British GP in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the mission in a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their supervisor, that supervisor communicates with a manager in another department, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” explains the CTO. “So we empower people to really get on with it. Avoiding management approval for everything is far more efficient and faster.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this agile methodology will be tested in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is no little amount at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
