Approximately a full year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately granted the go-ahead as F1's newest participant for 2026. Establishing the organization from scratch has involved a intense work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport converges on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the season finale of the championship to be hosted in the United States, with around three months to go before they take to the track for the first time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are conscious there will not be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic team in early 2023 not long after it was established, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and has a amused expression when considering the journey.
“You might get five minutes reflecting at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in under three years,’” he notes. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Yes, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Nick Chester had success at Renault in Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the mission of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a factory team sponsored by the corporate entity, GM, into F1.
“Building an Formula One team from the ground up, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you won't have the possibility to alter organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that goes by focus are increasingly concentrated on the looming moment of truth in Australia and targets are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad joining the grid is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted recently and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he felt the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So we arrive and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team executing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show improvement from there on.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Drive
In August they signed Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo notable for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a difficult start, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I believe with this structure, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we won't be able to advance swiftly to the front and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in top gear, with staff now reaching in excess of 400 and scheduled to hit the goal of 600 members quickly. Complementing their existing facility at the UK base, the squad are in the phase of completing an headquarters at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to produce the power unit, set for 2029 – until then they will use Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the direction in the sport for greater centralisation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how tough it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of Apollo teams all working on distinct elements of the project at a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a process where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their supervisor, that leader communicates with a manager somewhere else, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” notes Nick Chester. “We give authority to people to really get on with it. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is far more efficient and quicker.”
The Future
The effectiveness of this flexible methodology will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a significant degree on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
