Just over a full year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last granted the official approval as F1's latest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from nothing has involved a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As F1 descends on Vegas this race weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the championship to be staged in the US, with around a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic operation in March 2023 soon after it was created, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart from that point and has a wry smile when thinking about the ride.
“You can have a short period looking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Yeah, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Nick Chester had success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the mission of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the owner, GM, into Formula One.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you won't have the possibility to transform cultural approach.”
With each passing day that passes focus are more focused on the impending moment of truth in the Australian GP and goals are being managed.
“One must presume that any new team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal stated recently and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So we turn up and we operate well. We want to show that we’re a proper team performing the proper actions on the circuit. When we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on forward movement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Push
In late summer they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in competing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the mood of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We have a massive task to do, and it’s going to be probably a difficult start, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to finish last. I believe with this setup, with these individuals, these people, there is every reason that we can't manage to advance swiftly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in top gear, with staff now at in excess of 400 and planned to reach the target of 600 quickly. In addition to their existing facility at the UK base, the organization are in the phase of completing an headquarters at Fishers in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to manufacture the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex structure, different from the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
Space Mission Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said the team principal ahead of the British GP in July. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all focusing on different aspects of the mission across a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a protocol where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their manager, that manager talks to a leader somewhere else, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes the CTO. “So we empower people to handle things directly. Moving away from management approval for everything is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this agile methodology will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
