Just over one year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the green light as Formula One’s latest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from nothing has entailed a intense operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One arrives on Vegas this weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the campaign to be hosted in the US, with around 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed operation in March 2023 soon after it was formed, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core from that point and enjoys a knowing grin when reflecting on the journey.
“You might get five minutes reflecting at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we have built in less than three years,’” Chester states. “And then the next minute you think: ‘Well, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Nick Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical development at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has been quite like the challenge of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team backed by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Establishing an grand prix 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 possibility to alter organizational mindset.”
With each day that goes by minds are increasingly concentrated on the approaching critical moment in Melbourne and expectations are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any incoming team joining the grid is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated recently and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he thought the team had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “In order that we turn up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team doing the right things on the circuit. After we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we will focus on progression subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Effort
In August they recruited Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their vast knowledge in performing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I believe with this structure, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we can't manage to progress rapidly to the front and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in full swing, with staff now at over 400 and planned to attain the goal of 600 members quickly. In addition to their present headquarters at the UK base, the squad are in the phase of completing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organization, different from the trend in Formula One for more centralization, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in July. “We’re realistic, we recognize how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, instead of the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of project teams all focusing on various components of the mission at a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their supervisor, that leader consults a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” explains the CTO. “Therefore we enable team members to really get on with it. Eliminating management approval for everything is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this nimble strategy will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a considerable amount at stake for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
