A little more than twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's latest participant for 2026. Establishing the team from scratch has required a intense operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the season finale of the season to be held in the United States, with approximately 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are aware there will never be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in early 2023 shortly after it was created, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart ever since and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the experience.
“You can have a brief moment looking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in less than three years,’” Chester states. “But then the following moment you consider: ‘Well, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has truly matched the mission of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the owner, GM, into Formula One.
“Establishing an F1 team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you don’t get the opportunity to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that passes focus are increasingly concentrated on the impending critical moment in Melbourne and targets are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any new team coming in is going to be last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal noted recently and while Nick Chester shared this view he felt the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation performing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate progression from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Push
In the summer they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their racers for the 2026 season, a pair distinguished for their vast knowledge in operating at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and we expect most likely a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to stay at the back. In my view with this setup, with this team, this staff, there’s no reason why we won't be able to progress rapidly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in full swing, with employees now reaching in excess of 400 and planned to attain the goal of 600 members quickly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the organization are in the midst of completing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to produce the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – until then they will use Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organisation, at odds with the direction in F1 for increased consolidation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred.
Apollo Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we recognize how difficult it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, rather than the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of project teams all focusing on various components of the program at a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a process where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their team leader, that leader talks to a supervisor somewhere else, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” explains the CTO. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Eliminating hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile strategy will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is no little amount riding on this for the sport, too. Cadillac have recruited as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
