A little more than one year ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the go-ahead as Formula One’s most recent participant for 2026. Establishing the organization from scratch has entailed a frenetic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 converges on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac understand time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the season finale of the championship to be held in the America, with approximately a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic project in March 2023 shortly after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a amused expression when considering the experience.
“You might get five minutes looking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Amazing, how impressive what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “But then the very next instant you think: ‘Yes, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Chester had success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Establishing an grand prix team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you won't have the possibility to transform team culture.”
With each day that passes minds are sharper on the impending critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” the team principal commented recently and while the CTO shared this view he thought the team had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So that we show up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation performing the right things on the circuit. Once we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we will focus on improvement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Effort
In late summer they signed Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a tandem notable for their priceless expertise in performing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Bottas echoed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he said. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. 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 advance swiftly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in top gear, with employees now up to in excess of 400 and intended to attain the goal of 600 swiftly. Alongside their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the process of building an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will run Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate structure, different from the direction in F1 for greater centralisation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Model
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” said Graeme Lowdon just before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how difficult it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all tackling different aspects of the program across a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their supervisor, that leader consults a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” notes Nick Chester. “So we empower people to take charge. Moving away from hierarchical consent for each action is so much cleaner and faster.”
The Future
The effectiveness of this nimble methodology will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is no little amount riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
