Approximately a full year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the green light as Formula One’s latest entrant for 2026. Constructing the team from the ground up has required a hectic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport arrives on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be hosted in the America, with around 100 days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural 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 monumental task, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in the spring of 2023 not long after it was established, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart from that point and has a wry smile when reflecting on the ride.
“You can have a brief moment reflecting at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Amazing, how impressive what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yeah, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in command of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the mission of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a works entry supported by the corporate entity, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Creating an grand prix team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you won't have the possibility to alter cultural approach.”
With each day that elapses minds are sharper on the approaching critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being managed.
“One must presume that any new team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while the CTO shared this view he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So we arrive and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team doing the proper actions on the track. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate improvement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Effort
In late summer they signed Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a duo distinguished for their vast knowledge in performing at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver expressed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We have a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I am confident with this setup, with this team, these people, it's entirely possible we can't manage to get relatively quickly to the front and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in top gear, with personnel now at in excess of 400 and planned to hit the target of 600 rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at the UK base, the organization are in the midst of finishing an headquarters at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to manufacture the new engine, set for 2029 – for now they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a complex organization, different from the movement in the sport for greater centralisation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which the CTO alluded.
Apollo Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon ahead of the British GP in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of project teams all working on various components of the mission across a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a protocol where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their supervisor, that manager communicates with a leader in another department, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” explains the CTO. “Therefore we enable people to handle things directly. Avoiding management approval for each action is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is no little amount at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their test driver the young American Colton Herta
