Just over one year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the go-ahead as F1's most recent entry for 2026. Constructing the squad from nothing has required a frenetic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One arrives on Vegas this race weekend, the team understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the campaign to be staged in the America, with just over three months to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia 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 cognizant there will never be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic operation in early 2023 shortly after it was established, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its center ever since and enjoys a knowing grin when reflecting on the journey.
“There might be a short period thinking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “Then the following moment you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Nick Chester had success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the challenge of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a works entry supported by the parent company, GM, into F1.
“Establishing an F1 team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you won't have the chance to transform team culture.”
With each day that elapses focus are more focused on the looming critical moment in the Australian GP and goals are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal commented earlier this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the squad had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So we arrive and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender performing the proper actions on the race track. Once we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Effort
In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Bottas reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We face a massive task to do, and it’s going to be most likely a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe given this organization, with this group, this staff, there is every reason that we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in full swing, with employees now up to over 400 and intended to hit the target of six hundred rapidly. Alongside their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the phase of building an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are constructing the center to build the power unit, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, at odds with the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.
NASA Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” stated the team principal shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how tough it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the mission across a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a process where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their supervisor, that supervisor consults a manager somewhere else, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” says Nick Chester. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Moving away from management approval for all decisions is much smoother and quicker.”
The Future
The success of this nimble strategy will be evaluated in the heat of competition next season and there is no little amount riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
