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 most recent participant for 2026. Constructing the organization from scratch has required a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 converges on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the last event of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with just over three months to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are conscious there will never be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent operation in early 2023 not long after it was created, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and enjoys a knowing grin when thinking about the ride.
“You might get five minutes looking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he says. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has been quite like the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Creating an Formula One team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you don’t get the possibility to alter organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that goes by minds are more focused on the looming moment of truth in the Australian GP and expectations are being managed.
“You have to assume that any new team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he felt the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team doing the right things on the circuit. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we want to show progression after that.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Drive
In August they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for the 2026 season, a pair distinguished for their vast knowledge in operating at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We face a mountain of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. In my view given this organization, with these individuals, these personnel, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To that end recruitment has been in top gear, with personnel now up to over 400 and scheduled to reach the goal of 600 members swiftly. In addition to their present headquarters at Silverstone, the squad are in the phase of completing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are developing the center to manufacture the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will use Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, at odds with the trend in F1 for greater centralisation, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Chester referred.
Space Mission Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon just before the British GP in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how difficult it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of NASA's, where there were a range of project teams all working on different aspects of the program in a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they report it to their manager, that manager talks to a supervisor somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” says Nick Chester. “We give authority to staff to take charge. Avoiding managerial sign-off for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this nimble approach will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is no little amount on the line for the sport, too. Cadillac have taken on as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
