Just over one year ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last granted the official approval as Formula One’s newest entry for 2026. Building the squad from nothing has required a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the last event of the season to be hosted in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent team in early 2023 soon after it was created, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its core since then and enjoys a amused expression when reflecting on the experience.
“There might be a brief moment looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “Then the next minute you think: ‘Yes, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical development at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has been quite like the task of bringing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a works entry backed by the owner, General Motors, into F1.
“Establishing an Formula One team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you rarely get the opportunity to alter organizational mindset.”
With every day that passes minds are more focused on the impending decisive point in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any new team coming in is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he believed the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “So that we turn up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team performing the right things on the circuit. Once we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Effort
In August they recruited Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for the 2026 season, a tandem distinguished for their vast knowledge in performing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Bottas echoed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I believe with this structure, with these individuals, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To that end recruitment has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to over 400 and intended to reach the objective of 600 members quickly. In addition to their current base at Silverstone, the organization are in the midst of completing an HQ at Fishers in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the facility to produce the new engine, set for 2029 – for now they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate organization, at odds with the trend in the sport for increased consolidation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester alluded.
NASA Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” said the team principal shortly before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We’re realistic, we recognize how difficult it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of NASA's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling different aspects of the program in a different facilities.
“When you must follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their team leader, that manager consults a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” notes Nick Chester. “So we empower people to really get on with it. Moving away from management approval for all decisions is much smoother and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be tested in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their test driver the emerging American Colton Herta
