Approximately twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the official approval as the world of Formula One's latest entrant for 2026. Establishing the squad from nothing has required a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with just over a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the first 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 monumental task, they are conscious there will not be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined 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 ever since and gets a wry smile when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he says. “But then the following moment you think: ‘Well, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
Nick Chester had success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the mission of launching the all-American Cadillac name, a works entry supported by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Building an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you won't have the possibility to transform organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that goes by minds are more focused on the looming decisive point in Melbourne and goals are being handled.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is going to be last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon noted recently and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So that we arrive and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team executing the proper actions on the track. After we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on forward movement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Effort
In August they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo remarkable for their priceless expertise in operating at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We face a massive task to do, and we expect most likely a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to finish last. In my view with this structure, with this group, these personnel, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To that end hiring has been in full swing, with personnel now at over 400 and scheduled to reach the goal of 600 quickly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the squad are in the process 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 plant to build the new engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will use Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organisation, at odds with the direction 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 NASA moon mission,” said Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we know how tough it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all tackling distinct elements of the mission across a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a process where someone has a problem and they report it to their team leader, that supervisor talks to a supervisor in another department, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “So we empower team members to take charge. Eliminating management approval for each action is much smoother and quicker.”
The Future
The success of this flexible strategy will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a significant degree on the line for F1, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
