Approximately twelve months in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last awarded the official approval as Formula One’s latest entrant for the 2026 season. Establishing the team from scratch has entailed a frenetic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport arrives on Las Vegas this weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the season finale of the season to be held in the America, with approximately a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are cognizant there will not be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in early 2023 soon after it was formed, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core ever since and has a amused expression when considering the experience.
“You might get a brief moment thinking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Yes, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Chester had success at Renault in Alonso's title-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of introducing the all-American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Creating an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you don’t get the opportunity to alter organizational mindset.”
With each day that goes by minds are more focused on the approaching moment of truth in Melbourne and targets are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad entering the sport is going to be last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we show up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the track. Once we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Drive
In August they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their invaluable experience in operating at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the attitude of combative optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he said. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it’s going to be probably a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with these individuals, these personnel, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in full swing, with staff now reaching more than 400 and scheduled to attain the objective of 600 quickly. Complementing their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the process of building an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to build the power unit, planned for 2029 – until then they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organization, at odds with the movement in F1 for greater centralisation, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” said the team principal shortly before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how difficult it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, rather than the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of NASA's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the project across a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a process where an issue arises and they raise it up to their manager, that leader consults a supervisor at a different location, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” notes the CTO. “So we empower people to really get on with it. Moving away from management approval for everything is much smoother and faster.”
The Future
The success of this nimble strategy will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
