Just over one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the official approval as Formula One’s latest entrant for 2026. Building the organization from nothing has involved a intense pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 descends on Las Vegas this weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be staged in the America, with approximately a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are cognizant there will not be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent project in early 2023 shortly after it was created, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its core ever since and has a amused expression when considering the ride.
“You can have a brief moment thinking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in less than three years,’” he says. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Well, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of bringing the all-American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the owner, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Building an F1 team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you don’t get the opportunity to transform team culture.”
With each day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the approaching moment of truth in Melbourne and targets are being managed.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad coming in is going to be last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while the CTO shared this view he believed the squad had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we show up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation performing the proper actions on the track. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on forward movement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Effort
In August they signed Checo Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their priceless expertise in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I believe given this organization, with this team, this staff, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to over 400 and planned to reach the target of six hundred quickly. Alongside their current base at the UK base, the team are in the phase of building an main base at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are developing the center to produce the 2029 engine, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate structure, different from the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” said Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we know how difficult it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of specialist groups all working on different aspects of the program in a different facilities.
“When you must follow a process where someone has a problem and they report it to their supervisor, that leader communicates with a leader in another department, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to take charge. Eliminating management approval for each action is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile methodology will be evaluated in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is no little amount at stake for F1, too. Cadillac have taken on as their development driver the young American Colton Herta
