A little more than twelve months in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the official approval as F1's latest entry for 2026. Building the squad from nothing has involved a frenetic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 converges on Las Vegas this weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the season finale of the campaign to be held in the US, with approximately 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed team in early 2023 soon after it was established, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its core ever since and enjoys a wry smile when considering the ride.
“You can have five minutes looking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” Chester states. “But then the very next instant you realize: ‘Yes, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical development at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a works entry sponsored by the owner, GM, into Formula One.
“Building an F1 team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you rarely get the opportunity to transform cultural approach.”
With every day that elapses thoughts are sharper on the looming critical moment in the Australian GP and expectations are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon commented recently and while Chester shared this view he felt the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “So that we show up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team performing the right things on the track. After we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we want to show improvement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Push
In August they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver echoed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I am confident with this structure, with this group, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To that end recruitment has been in overdrive, with staff now up to in excess of 400 and intended to attain the target of 600 rapidly. In addition to their current base at the UK base, the organization are in the midst of finishing an main base at Fishers in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to manufacture the power unit, scheduled for the 2029 season – for now they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, different from the direction in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
NASA Inspiration
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British GP in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, instead of the traditional management structure, a flat management structure comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of project teams all tackling different aspects of the mission in a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their team leader, that supervisor consults a manager at a different location, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to staff to take charge. Moving away from management approval for all decisions is so much cleaner and faster.”
The Future
The success of this flexible approach will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a significant degree riding on this for Formula One, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
