A little more than twelve months previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the green light as Formula One’s latest entrant for 2026. Establishing the squad from the ground up has involved a frenetic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 arrives on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the last event of the season to be hosted in the America, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in March 2023 soon after it was formed, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart since then and gets a amused expression when reflecting on the ride.
“You can have five minutes looking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in under three years,’” he notes. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Yes, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious seasons of 2005/2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the mission of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors, into F1.
“Creating an grand prix team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you don’t get the chance to transform team culture.”
With each passing day that passes minds are increasingly concentrated on the looming critical moment in Melbourne and targets are being handled.
“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 achievement in itself,” the team principal noted earlier this year and while Chester echoed this he thought the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So we turn up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender doing the right things on the track. Once we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show improvement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Push
In August they contracted Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their vast knowledge in performing at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the mood of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he said. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be probably a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident with this setup, with this group, these personnel, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To that end hiring has been in overdrive, with employees now at over 400 and intended to attain the goal of 600 rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at the UK base, the team are in the phase of finishing an main base at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to produce the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, different from the trend in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.
NASA Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated Graeme Lowdon just before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we know how challenging it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure akin to that of NASA's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling different aspects of the project across a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their manager, that supervisor talks to a leader in another department, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” says Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to take charge. Moving away from management approval for each action is far more efficient and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this nimble methodology will be evaluated in the heat of competition next season and there is a considerable amount on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their test driver the emerging American Colton Herta
