Approximately twelve months ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's newest participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from nothing has entailed a intense pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 descends on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in March 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart ever since and enjoys a amused expression when reflecting on the experience.
“You can have a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and think: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “But then the next minute you consider: ‘Well, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Task
The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has truly matched the challenge of launching the all-American Cadillac brand, a factory team supported by the owner, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an Formula One team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you won't have the opportunity to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that passes thoughts are more focused on the looming decisive point in Melbourne and targets are being handled.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal noted this year and while Chester shared this view he believed the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we operate well. We want to show that this is a professional operation performing the correct procedures on the track. Once we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Push
In the summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Bottas echoed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We face a massive task to do, and we expect probably a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I am confident with this setup, with this group, this staff, it's entirely possible we won't be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in top gear, with employees now at more than 400 and intended to attain the target of six hundred rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the midst of completing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are constructing the plant to produce the new engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated structure, different from the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Chester alluded.
Space Mission Model
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” stated the team principal just before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we know how tough it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, rather than the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all working on various components of the mission at a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a protocol where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their team leader, that supervisor talks to a leader in another department, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to people to take charge. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a considerable amount riding on this for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
