Just over one year previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the official approval as the world of Formula One's latest entrant for the 2026 season. Building the squad from nothing has entailed a intense work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport arrives on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team understand time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the season finale of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with approximately a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic team in the spring of 2023 soon after it was created, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and gets a wry smile when thinking about the journey.
“There might be a short period reflecting at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Amazing, how impressive what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “But then the very next instant you consider: ‘Well, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Nick Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of engineering strategy at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the mission of introducing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a works entry supported by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Creating an F1 team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you don’t get the opportunity to transform cultural approach.”
With each day that passes thoughts are sharper on the approaching critical moment in the Australian GP and expectations are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad joining the grid is going to be last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he believed the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he says. “So we turn up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation executing the right things on the race track. When we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In the summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a duo distinguished for their priceless expertise in competing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he said. “We have a massive task to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe with this setup, with this group, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in top gear, with employees now at over 400 and intended to attain the goal of 600 members quickly. In addition to their current base at Silverstone, the organization are in the phase of building an HQ at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are constructing the plant to produce the 2029 engine, set for the 2029 season – until then they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organisation, different from the movement in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how challenging it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a decentralized management akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of project teams all working on distinct elements of the mission in a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a process where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader consults a supervisor somewhere else, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” says Chester. “Therefore we enable people to take charge. Eliminating hierarchical consent for all decisions is much smoother and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this agile approach will be evaluated in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
