Approximately one year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the green light as the world of Formula One's newest participant for 2026. Establishing the organization from the ground up has involved a hectic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 converges on Vegas this weekend, the team understand the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be hosted in the US, with approximately three months to go before they take to the track for the first time in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed project in early 2023 soon after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core ever since and enjoys a amused expression when considering the journey.
“There might be a short period reflecting at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he says. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Well, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical development at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Creating an grand prix team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you rarely get the chance to change team culture.”
With each day that passes thoughts are more focused on the looming moment of truth in Melbourne and expectations are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team joining the grid is going to be last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented earlier this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he felt the organization had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So we show up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation executing the proper actions on the race track. After we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we want to show improvement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Drive
In August they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a tandem notable for their vast knowledge in operating at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it’s going to be probably a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. In my view given this organization, with this team, this staff, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with employees now reaching in excess of 400 and scheduled to reach the target of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their current base at the UK base, the organization are in the process of finishing an HQ at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to build the new engine, set for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, contrary to the movement in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” remarked the team principal ahead of the Silverstone race in July. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a range of specialist groups all tackling various components of the program across a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a process where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their supervisor, that manager consults a manager at a different location, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” notes the CTO. “So we empower team members to handle things directly. Avoiding managerial sign-off for everything is far more efficient and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree at stake for F1, too. Cadillac have taken on as their test driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
