A little more than twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the go-ahead as F1's newest entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from nothing has required a frenetic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the campaign to be held in the US, with around three months to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are cognizant there will not be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed operation in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core ever since and gets a wry smile when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and say: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you realize: ‘Well, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
The CTO enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of the mid-2000s and was in command of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has been quite like the task of introducing the all-American Cadillac marque, a factory team sponsored by the owner, GM, into F1.
“Establishing an Formula One team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you won't have the opportunity to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that elapses thoughts are more focused on the impending critical moment in Melbourne and expectations are being managed.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted this year and while the CTO shared this view he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we show up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team performing the right things on the track. After we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we want to show progression after that.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Effort
In August they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in competing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the attitude of combative optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and we expect most likely a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. In my view with this structure, with these individuals, these personnel, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to the front and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in top gear, with personnel now reaching over 400 and scheduled to attain the target of 600 quickly. Complementing their current base at the UK base, the squad are in the process of building an headquarters at Fishers in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to produce the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will use Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organisation, contrary to the direction in the sport for more centralization, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
Apollo Inspiration
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” remarked Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we know how difficult it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. OK, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, instead of the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all tackling distinct elements of the program at a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a procedure where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that supervisor talks to a leader somewhere else, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” says Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to take charge. Avoiding managerial sign-off for each action is far more efficient and faster.”
The Future
The effectiveness of this nimble methodology will be proven in the heat of competition next season and there is no little amount at stake for F1, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
