Just over a full year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from scratch has involved a frenetic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the campaign to be held in the America, with around a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the nascent operation in March 2023 not long after it was established, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its center from that point and gets a knowing grin when thinking about the ride.
“You can have a short period looking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “And then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yes, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has quite compared with the mission of introducing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the parent company, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Establishing an grand prix team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you rarely get the chance to change cultural approach.”
With every day that passes focus are sharper on the impending moment of truth in Melbourne and targets are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented earlier this year and while Chester shared this view he thought the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We want to show that we are a serious contender doing the proper actions on the circuit. When we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we want to show improvement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Effort
In the summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for the 2026 season, a pair remarkable for their vast knowledge in competing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We face a massive task to do, and it’s going to be probably a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. In my view with this structure, with this group, this staff, there is every reason that we can't manage to progress rapidly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with employees now up to over 400 and planned to reach the target of 600 rapidly. Complementing their current base at Silverstone, the team are in the process of finishing an HQ at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are constructing the facility to produce the power unit, planned for 2029 – until then they will use Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate structure, at odds with the direction in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” remarked the team principal ahead of the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we know how challenging it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure akin to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of project teams all focusing on various components of the mission in a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a procedure where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their supervisor, that leader consults a manager in another department, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” says Chester. “We give authority to people to handle things directly. Avoiding management approval for each action is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this nimble strategy will be evaluated in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is no little amount riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
