Approximately one year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately granted the green light as F1's latest participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from nothing has involved a hectic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team understand the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the last event of the championship to be hosted in the America, with around 100 days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in early 2023 not long after it was formed, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart from that point and gets a wry smile when thinking about the journey.
“You can have a short period thinking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in under three years,’” Chester states. “And then the next minute you think: ‘Well, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
The CTO achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you rarely get the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With each day that goes by minds are sharper on the impending decisive point in Melbourne and targets are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon stated recently and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We want to show that we are a serious contender executing the right things on the race track. Once we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Effort
In the summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their invaluable experience in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We have a huge amount of work 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 stay at the back. I believe given this organization, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To that end recruitment has been in overdrive, with staff now at more than 400 and intended to attain the goal of 600 members rapidly. Complementing their present headquarters at Silverstone, the organization are in the process of finishing an main base at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the plant to manufacture the new engine, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate organization, different from the movement in F1 for increased consolidation, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in July. “We’re realistic, we know how challenging it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all tackling various components of the project at a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their team leader, that leader communicates with a manager somewhere else, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” explains Nick Chester. “So we empower staff to take charge. Moving away from management approval for each action is much smoother and more rapid.”
The Future
The success of this flexible strategy will be evaluated in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a considerable amount on the line for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their test driver the young American Colton Herta
