Approximately one year previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the green light as Formula One’s newest participant for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from scratch has involved a hectic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 converges on Vegas this race weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the season finale of the championship to be staged in the United States, with around 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed project in March 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and has a wry smile when considering the journey.
“There might be five minutes reflecting at what you’ve done and think: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in under three years,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yes, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Nick Chester had success at Renault in Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the mission of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Building an grand prix team from the ground up, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you don’t get the opportunity to change cultural approach.”
With each day that elapses minds are more focused on the approaching decisive point in Melbourne and goals are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect 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,” Lowdon commented recently and while the CTO echoed this he thought the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we show up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we are a serious contender executing the right things on the race track. When we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Push
In late summer they signed Sergio Perez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a pair distinguished for their vast knowledge in operating at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be most likely a difficult start, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I believe with this structure, with these individuals, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To that end recruitment has been in top gear, with employees now reaching more than 400 and scheduled to attain the goal of six hundred swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the process of finishing an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are building the plant to manufacture the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organization, at odds with the trend in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Chester referred to.
Apollo Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” remarked the team principal ahead of the Silverstone race in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, instead of the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of NASA's, where there were a range of specialist groups all working on different aspects of the project at a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a protocol where a challenge emerges and they report it to their team leader, that manager communicates with a manager at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” notes Chester. “So we empower team members to handle things directly. Moving away from managerial sign-off for everything is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this agile strategy will be evaluated in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is no little amount on the line for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
