Approximately one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last granted the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for 2026. Establishing the organization from scratch has entailed a hectic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the championship to be staged in the US, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed operation in the spring of 2023 soon after it was established, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and has a knowing grin when considering the ride.
“You can have a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Amazing, how impressive what the team has created in less than three years,’” Chester states. “And then the next minute you realize: ‘Yes, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Chester had success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the mission of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry sponsored by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an F1 team from the ground up, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you won't have the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With each day that goes by focus are more focused on the approaching critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any incoming team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented recently and while the CTO shared this view he thought the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we show up and we perform competently. We want to show that we’re a proper team performing the proper actions on the race track. Once we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on improvement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Effort
In the summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas expressed the attitude of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We face a massive task to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I am confident with this structure, with this group, this staff, there’s no reason why we can't manage to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to more than 400 and planned to reach the target of 600 quickly. Alongside their current base at Silverstone, the organization are in the midst of building an HQ at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to manufacture the power unit, planned for the 2029 season – for now they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a intricate organization, different from the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked the team principal just before the Silverstone race in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how difficult it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of project teams all working on different aspects of the program at a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a process where a challenge emerges and they report it to their manager, that manager communicates with a leader in another department, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” explains Chester. “So we empower staff to handle things directly. Avoiding management approval for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
The Future
The effectiveness of this flexible approach will be proven in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is no little amount at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta
