Approximately a full year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the green light as Formula One’s newest participant for the 2026 season. Building the squad from nothing has entailed a intense work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the championship to be held in the United States, with approximately three months 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 sisyphean endeavor, they are cognizant there will never be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent team in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was created, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core since then and enjoys a wry smile when thinking about the ride.
“You can have a short period looking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he notes. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has been quite like the mission of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the owner, GM, into F1.
“Creating an F1 team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you won't have the opportunity to alter organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that goes by minds are more focused on the looming moment of truth in Melbourne and expectations are being managed.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon commented recently and while Chester echoed this he thought the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we turn up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team performing the correct procedures on the track. After we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show forward movement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Effort
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo distinguished for their priceless expertise in operating at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We have a massive task to do, and it’s going to be most likely a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. In my view given this organization, with this team, these people, there is every reason that we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in full swing, with staff now at in excess of 400 and intended to reach the target of 600 rapidly. Alongside their current base at Silverstone, the team are in the phase of building an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are constructing the facility to produce the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – for now they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex organisation, different from the movement in the sport for greater centralisation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester alluded.
Apollo Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” remarked the team principal shortly before the British GP in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how challenging it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of project teams all tackling distinct elements of the project across a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their team leader, that leader talks to a supervisor at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” explains the CTO. “Therefore we enable people to really get on with it. Avoiding management approval for each action is far more efficient and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is no little amount riding on this for the sport, too. Cadillac have taken on as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
