Just over a full year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately granted the official approval as F1's latest entry for 2026. Establishing the team from the ground up has involved a intense work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As F1 converges on Vegas this weekend, the team understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the championship to be hosted in the US, with around a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are conscious there will not be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent operation in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a wry smile when reflecting on the ride.
“There might be a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and think: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we have built in less than three years,’” Chester states. “But then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious seasons of the mid-2000s and was in charge of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has quite compared with the challenge of bringing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the corporate entity, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an Formula One team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you don’t get the possibility to change cultural approach.”
With each passing day that passes minds are more focused on the approaching moment of truth in Melbourne and targets are being managed.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated recently and while the CTO echoed this he believed the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So that we show up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the proper actions on the track. After we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate improvement after that.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Drive
In late summer they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their priceless expertise in performing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and we expect most likely a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. In my view with this setup, with these individuals, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly to the front and achieve good results.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to in excess of 400 and planned to hit the target of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the organization are in the phase of completing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to build the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate structure, at odds with the trend in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said the team principal ahead of the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, rather than the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of NASA's, where there were a range of specialist groups all tackling different aspects of the project at a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they report it to their supervisor, that manager communicates with a supervisor at a different location, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes Chester. “So we empower team members to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for each action is much smoother and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this flexible strategy will be proven in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is no little amount riding on this for F1, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their test driver the young American Colton Herta
