Approximately one year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the green light as F1's newest participant for 2026. Establishing the squad from nothing has entailed a intense operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the season to be staged in the United States, with around three months to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic team in early 2023 shortly after it was created, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart since then and has a wry smile when thinking about the journey.
“There might be a brief moment reflecting at what you’ve done and think: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in less than three years,’” Chester states. “But then the next minute you think: ‘Yes, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical development at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has been quite like the challenge of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the owner, General Motors, into F1.
“Building an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you won't have the opportunity to transform organizational mindset.”
With every day that passes minds are increasingly concentrated on the impending decisive point in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team coming in is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted recently and while the CTO shared this view he believed the organization had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “In order that we turn up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation performing the proper actions on the circuit. After we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we want to show progression after that.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Drive
In late summer they contracted Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a pair distinguished for their vast knowledge in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver echoed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with this team, this staff, there’s no reason why we can't manage to advance swiftly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in top gear, with employees now reaching more than 400 and intended to attain the goal of 600 swiftly. In addition to their present headquarters at the UK base, the team are in the midst of completing an HQ at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are constructing the plant to manufacture the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated structure, contrary to the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester alluded.
Apollo Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” stated the team principal just before the Silverstone race in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how challenging it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, rather than the traditional management structure, a flat management structure comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling different aspects of the mission in a different facilities.
“When you must follow a process where an issue arises and they escalate it to their supervisor, that supervisor communicates with a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” says Nick Chester. “We give authority to people to handle things directly. Moving away from managerial sign-off for each action is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this flexible approach will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a considerable amount at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their test driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
