Just over one year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately granted the green light as F1's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the team from scratch has entailed a intense operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 arrives on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the last event of the season to be hosted in the US, with around a hundred days to go before they take to the track 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 never-ending endeavor, they are conscious there will never be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic team in March 2023 soon after it was created, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart from that point and has a wry smile when reflecting on the journey.
“There might be five minutes thinking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in less than three years,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Yes, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
Nick Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Building an F1 team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you rarely get the chance to change cultural approach.”
With each passing day that goes by minds are more focused on the impending decisive point in the Australian GP and expectations are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any incoming team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” the team principal commented recently and while Nick Chester shared this view he believed the organization had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender executing the right things on the track. When we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate progression after that.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In the summer they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their invaluable experience in operating at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver echoed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We have a massive task to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to finish last. In my view given this organization, with this team, these personnel, there’s no reason why we can't manage to get relatively quickly to the front and taste victory.”
To that end recruitment has been in full swing, with personnel now at over 400 and intended to reach the target of 600 members quickly. In addition to their current base at Silverstone, the team are in the phase of building an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to build the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, contrary to the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Chester alluded.
NASA Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” said Lowdon shortly before the British GP in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, rather than the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all focusing on various components of the program at a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a procedure where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their team leader, that supervisor communicates with a manager somewhere else, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” explains the CTO. “We give authority to people to handle things directly. Avoiding managerial sign-off for each action is so much cleaner and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this nimble approach will be tested in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a considerable amount riding on this for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta
