A little more than one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last given the official approval as the world of Formula One's latest entrant for 2026. Establishing the squad from nothing has involved a frenetic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As Formula One descends on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the campaign to be hosted in the US, with approximately 100 days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are cognizant there will never be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic project in March 2023 soon after it was formed, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core ever since and enjoys a wry smile when thinking about the experience.
“You might get a short period reflecting at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he notes. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yes, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has quite compared with the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a works entry supported by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Building an F1 team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you rarely get the possibility to transform organizational mindset.”
With every day that elapses minds are increasingly concentrated on the looming decisive point in Australia and expectations are being managed.
“One must presume that any incoming team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted this year and while the CTO echoed this he felt the team had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we arrive and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender performing the correct procedures on the circuit. When we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push
In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their drivers for the 2026 season, a tandem notable for their vast knowledge in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he said. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to finish last. I believe given this organization, with this group, these personnel, it's entirely possible we can't manage to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in top gear, with personnel now at over 400 and intended to attain the goal of six hundred swiftly. In addition to their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the process of building an main base at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are building the plant to produce the power unit, set for 2029 – until then they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a complex organization, contrary to the direction in the sport for more centralization, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Model
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” remarked the team principal shortly before the British GP in July. “We’re realistic, we know how challenging it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
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 distinct elements of the mission at a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their team leader, that leader consults a leader somewhere else, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” notes Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable people to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for each action is so much cleaner and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible strategy will be evaluated in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a considerable amount at stake for the sport, too. Cadillac have taken on as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
