Just over one year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last granted the go-ahead as Formula One’s newest participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from scratch has entailed a intense pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport converges on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be hosted in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the nascent operation in March 2023 not long after it was created, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center from that point and enjoys a amused expression when reflecting on the journey.
“You can have a brief moment thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what the team has created in under three years,’” he notes. “But then the next minute you think: ‘Yeah, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's title-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the challenge of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the corporate entity, GM, into F1.
“Building an grand prix team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you won't have the chance to transform cultural approach.”
With every day that elapses minds are sharper on the approaching critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated recently and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the organization had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So that we show up and we operate well. We want to show that we’re a proper team performing the right things on the circuit. After we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate progression from there on.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Effort
In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their racers for the 2026 season, a pair notable for their vast knowledge in operating at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Bottas reflected the mood of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and we expect probably a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. In my view given this organization, with this team, these personnel, there is every reason that we can't manage to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in top gear, with staff now reaching in excess of 400 and scheduled to reach the goal of 600 rapidly. In addition to their current base at the UK base, the team are in the midst of building an main base at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are building the center to produce the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a complex organisation, contrary to the movement in F1 for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO alluded.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” remarked the team principal shortly before the Silverstone race in July. “We are pragmatic, we understand how tough it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, instead of the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure akin to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all working on distinct elements of the program at a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they escalate it to their manager, that manager consults a manager at a different location, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” says the CTO. “Therefore we enable team members to really get on with it. Avoiding management approval for each action is far more efficient and faster.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a considerable amount riding on this for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
