Approximately one year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last awarded the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent participant for 2026. Constructing the squad from nothing has involved a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on Vegas this weekend, the team know time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be held in the America, with around a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Melbourne 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 conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic operation in early 2023 soon after it was created, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core ever since and has a knowing grin when considering the experience.
“You might get a brief moment thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” he says. “And then the next minute you think: ‘Well, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical development at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of bringing the all-American Cadillac brand, a works entry sponsored by the corporate entity, GM, into Formula One.
“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 change team culture.”
With every day that goes by thoughts are more focused on the impending critical moment in the Australian GP and expectations are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any incoming team coming in is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon commented this year and while the CTO shared this view he felt the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So we arrive and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team doing the right things on the track. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate progression subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Push
In August they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo notable for their invaluable experience in operating at the front in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the mood of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and we expect most likely a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with this group, this staff, there’s no reason why we won't be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with staff now reaching more than 400 and scheduled to reach the goal of 600 members swiftly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the organization are in the midst of completing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are building the center to produce the new engine, set for the 2029 season – for now they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, contrary to the movement in F1 for more centralization, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.
NASA Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” remarked Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in the summer. “We’re realistic, we recognize how tough it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, instead of the usual hierarchical system, 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 across a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where an issue arises and they report it to their manager, that manager communicates with a leader in another department, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” explains Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to handle things directly. Eliminating hierarchical consent for each action is much smoother and more rapid.”
The Future
The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be tested in the heat of competition next season and there is a significant degree riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
