Just over twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last given the green light as Formula One’s newest entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from the ground up has required a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the last event of the championship to be hosted in the America, with around 100 days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent team in early 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its core since then and has a amused expression when reflecting on the ride.
“There might be a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and go: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in under three years,’” he notes. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Yes, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the task of launching the all-American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the owner, GM, into F1.
“Creating an grand prix team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you rarely get the chance to alter organizational mindset.”
With each day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the looming decisive point in Australia and expectations are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented this year and while Chester shared this view he thought the team had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we arrive and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team executing the correct procedures on the circuit. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we want to show progression after that.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Drive
In August they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their racers for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in competing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. In my view with this setup, with this group, 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 top gear, with staff now at over 400 and scheduled to attain the target of six hundred swiftly. Complementing their present headquarters at the UK base, the organization are in the midst of building an HQ at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the center to manufacture the 2029 engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will use power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, different from the trend in the sport for more centralization, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred.
Space Mission Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked Graeme Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how difficult it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Well, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the mission at a different facilities.
“When you must follow a process where an issue arises and they raise it up to their manager, that manager communicates with a leader at a different location, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” notes Nick Chester. “We give authority to staff to handle things directly. Avoiding hierarchical consent for all decisions is so much cleaner and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this nimble approach will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is no little amount on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta
