Just over a full year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last awarded the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from the ground up has entailed a intense work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the season finale of the campaign to be hosted in the United States, with around three months to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are cognizant there will not be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic project in the spring of 2023 not long after it was formed, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center since then and enjoys a amused expression when thinking about the journey.
“There might be a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Amazing, how impressive what we’ve done in under three years,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you consider: ‘Well, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Chester achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the challenge of bringing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the corporate entity, GM, into Formula One.
“Establishing an Formula One team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you won't have the opportunity to alter organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that passes thoughts are more focused on the impending decisive point in Australia and goals are being managed.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon noted this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he thought the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So we turn up and we operate well. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team doing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Push
In August they contracted Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a duo remarkable for their priceless expertise in competing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver expressed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a difficult start, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I am confident given this organization, with this team, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To that end hiring has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to over 400 and planned to reach the target of 600 rapidly. Alongside their present headquarters at Silverstone, the squad are in the process of building an HQ at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to build the power unit, planned for 2029 – until then they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, at odds with the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester alluded.
NASA Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we understand how difficult it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Well, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, instead of the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all working on distinct elements of the project across a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their supervisor, that manager communicates with a manager somewhere else, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” says Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to take charge. Eliminating management approval for everything is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this flexible approach will be evaluated in the pressure of racing next season and there is no little amount at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the young American Colton Herta
