Just over twelve months in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last awarded the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent entry for 2026. Constructing the team from nothing has entailed a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 arrives on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the season to be hosted in the US, with around 100 days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 season 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 adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent operation in early 2023 soon after it was established, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core from that point and enjoys a knowing grin when thinking about the experience.
“You might get five minutes reflecting at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Yes, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
Nick Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Alonso's championship-winning campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in charge of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac marque, a factory team supported by the corporate entity, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an grand prix team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you don’t get the opportunity to alter team culture.”
With each passing day that passes thoughts are sharper on the impending decisive point in Australia and targets are being managed.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is going to be last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” the team principal stated this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “In order that we arrive and we perform competently. We want to show that we’re a proper team executing the proper actions on the circuit. Once we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Effort
In late summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo distinguished for their vast knowledge in performing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We face a massive task to do, and it’s going to be most likely a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to finish last. In my view given this organization, with this group, this staff, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in top gear, with employees now up to over 400 and scheduled to reach the goal of 600 rapidly. Complementing their present headquarters at the UK base, the squad are in the phase of building an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to manufacture the new engine, set for 2029 – for now they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, contrary to the movement in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred.
Space Mission Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said the team principal shortly before the British GP in the summer. “We’re realistic, we understand how tough it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, rather than the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the project in a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their manager, that manager talks to a supervisor in another department, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes Nick Chester. “So we empower people to really get on with it. Avoiding managerial sign-off for everything is so much cleaner and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this agile approach will be proven in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
