Just over a full year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the green light as Formula One’s latest entrant for 2026. Building the squad from scratch has entailed a hectic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One descends on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the season finale of the championship to be hosted in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are aware there will never be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic team in early 2023 soon after it was formed, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core since then and has a knowing grin when thinking about the journey.
“There might be a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he says. “And then the next minute you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical development at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has truly matched the challenge of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a works entry backed by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Building an grand prix team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you don’t get the chance to transform team culture.”
With every day that goes by focus are increasingly concentrated on the looming moment of truth in Melbourne and goals are being handled.
“You have to assume that any new team coming in is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented earlier this year and while Chester shared this view he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we operate well. We want to show that this is a professional operation performing the proper actions on the circuit. Once we prove that we’re really credible, then we will focus on progression subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their priceless expertise in operating at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Bottas expressed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. In my view with this setup, with these individuals, this staff, there’s no reason why we won't be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with personnel now reaching in excess of 400 and intended to attain the target of 600 swiftly. Complementing their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the process of finishing an HQ at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are constructing the center to manufacture the power unit, planned for the 2029 season – until then they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex structure, different from the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred to.
Apollo Model
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” remarked Graeme Lowdon just before the British Grand Prix in July. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how challenging it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all focusing on various components of the mission at a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a procedure where an issue arises and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader talks to a supervisor at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” notes Nick Chester. “So we empower staff to take charge. Moving away from hierarchical consent for each action is much smoother and quicker.”
The Future
The success of this nimble approach will be proven in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is a considerable amount riding on this for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
