Just over twelve months ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately granted the go-ahead as F1's newest participant for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from the ground up has required a frenetic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the season finale of the championship to be held in the United States, with just over three months to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are cognizant there will never be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic team in March 2023 shortly after it was established, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its center since then and gets a wry smile when reflecting on the experience.
“You can have a brief moment looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yes, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the challenge of launching the all-American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the owner, GM, into Formula One.
“Creating an F1 team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you rarely get the chance to change team culture.”
With each passing day that goes by minds are sharper on the impending decisive point in Melbourne and targets are being handled.
“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal noted this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we turn up and we perform competently. We want to show that this is a professional operation executing the correct procedures on the track. When we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement from there on.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Drive
In the summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and we expect most likely a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I am confident with this structure, with this group, these people, it's entirely possible we can't manage to progress rapidly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To that end recruitment has been in top gear, with employees now at more than 400 and planned to reach the objective of 600 swiftly. Alongside their current base at Silverstone, the squad are in the midst of finishing an main base at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to manufacture the new engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organisation, at odds with the direction in the sport for greater centralisation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Chester referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” said Graeme Lowdon just before the British GP in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. OK, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all tackling distinct elements of the project at a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a process where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that leader communicates with a leader in another department, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” says Nick Chester. “So we empower staff to handle things directly. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is so much cleaner and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this agile strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is no little amount on the line for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their development driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
