Approximately twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the green light as Formula One’s newest entrant for 2026. Building the squad from scratch has involved a frenetic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the championship to be held in the America, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time 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 never-ending endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be sufficient time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in early 2023 shortly after it was established, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and gets a knowing grin when thinking about the journey.
“There might be a brief moment looking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he notes. “But then the next minute you consider: ‘Yes, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
Nick Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the mission of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry supported by the corporate entity, GM, into F1.
“Creating an F1 team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you won't have the chance to alter organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that passes minds are increasingly concentrated on the approaching critical moment in the Australian GP and goals are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team entering the sport is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon stated recently and while Chester shared this view he thought the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So we arrive and we function efficiently. We want to show that this is a professional operation doing the proper actions on the race track. After we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Push
In late summer they contracted Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a pair notable for their vast knowledge in competing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be probably a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we can't manage to progress rapidly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in full swing, with employees now reaching in excess of 400 and scheduled to hit the target of 600 swiftly. Alongside their current base at the UK base, the team are in the process of completing an main base at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the center to manufacture the new engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a complex organisation, contrary to the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
Space Mission Model
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” stated Lowdon just before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how difficult it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of specialist groups all tackling distinct elements of the mission at a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they report it to their manager, that leader communicates with a supervisor in another department, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” says Chester. “So we empower team members to handle things directly. Eliminating management approval for everything is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this agile methodology will be evaluated in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
