Just over twelve months previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately granted the go-ahead as F1's newest participant for 2026. Establishing the organization from the ground up has entailed a frenetic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the campaign to be hosted in the United States, with just over three months to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed team in early 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and enjoys a wry smile when thinking about the journey.
“You can have a short period looking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Yeah, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has quite compared with the task of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a works entry sponsored by the owner, GM, into Formula One.
“Building an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you don’t get the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that elapses focus are sharper on the impending moment of truth in Australia and expectations are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any new team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon stated earlier this year and while the CTO echoed this he believed the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So we arrive and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the proper actions on the circuit. After we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate progression from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Drive
In late summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a duo notable for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the mood of combative optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and we expect probably a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I believe with this structure, with this group, these personnel, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to the front and taste victory.”
To that end recruitment has been in overdrive, with employees now up to over 400 and scheduled to attain the goal of six hundred swiftly. In addition to their current base at the UK base, the squad are in the midst of completing an main base at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are building the center to produce the new engine, planned for 2029 – for now they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a intricate organisation, at odds with the movement in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred to.
NASA Model
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” stated the team principal just before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we know how challenging it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, rather than the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of Apollo teams all working on various components of the mission across a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that supervisor communicates with a manager in another department, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” says the CTO. “We give authority to team members to take charge. Eliminating managerial sign-off for everything is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this nimble strategy will be proven in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a considerable amount riding on this for F1, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
