Just over twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last awarded the official approval as F1's newest entrant for 2026. Building the organization from scratch has required a frenetic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport arrives on Las Vegas this weekend, the team know time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Australia
At the season finale of the championship to be held in the America, with just over a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic project in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was established, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart from that point and enjoys a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get a short period reflecting at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “And then the next minute you realize: ‘Well, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Nick Chester enjoyed success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the challenge of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you won't have the chance to alter team culture.”
With each passing day that elapses thoughts are more focused on the approaching critical moment in Australia and targets are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad joining the grid is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” the team principal commented earlier this year and while Chester shared this view he felt the team had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “In order that we turn up and we function efficiently. We want to show that this is a professional operation performing the correct procedures on the track. Once we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on improvement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In August they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo notable for their priceless expertise in performing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a tough opening, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I believe with this setup, with this group, these personnel, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in top gear, with personnel now reaching over 400 and planned to attain the goal of 600 members quickly. In addition to their existing facility at the UK base, the team are in the phase of completing an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the center to build the new engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, at odds with the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” stated Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how challenging it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the program in a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a process where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their team leader, that supervisor consults a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” explains Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to really get on with it. Eliminating managerial sign-off for everything is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile methodology will be evaluated in the heat of competition next season and there is a significant degree on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
