Approximately one year previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately granted the official approval as F1's newest entry for 2026. Establishing the team from the ground up has entailed a hectic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One arrives on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be hosted in the America, with just over 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are aware there will never be sufficient time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent project in March 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart from that point and enjoys a amused expression when considering the experience.
“There might be a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you think: ‘Yes, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
The CTO had success at Renault in Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the task of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an F1 team from the ground up, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you rarely get the opportunity to change organizational mindset.”
With each day that goes by minds are increasingly concentrated on the approaching critical moment in the Australian GP and goals are being set realistically.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal noted recently and while Nick Chester shared this view he felt the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So we arrive and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the proper actions on the circuit. When we prove that we’re really credible, then we want to show improvement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Drive
In August they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a pair notable for their vast knowledge in performing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We face a massive task to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to finish last. In my view given this organization, with this group, these personnel, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with personnel now at in excess of 400 and scheduled to hit the goal of 600 members rapidly. In addition to their present headquarters at Silverstone, the squad are in the phase of finishing an HQ at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are building the plant to manufacture the new engine, set for 2029 – until then they will run Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organization, at odds with the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred.
NASA Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in July. “We are pragmatic, we understand how challenging it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Well, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all working on various components of the project at a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their manager, that supervisor communicates with a manager at a different location, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” says Nick Chester. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Eliminating management approval for each action is far more efficient and faster.”
The Future
The success of this agile methodology will be tested in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a considerable amount on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
