Approximately twelve months in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the green light as Formula One’s most recent entrant for 2026. Constructing the team from scratch has required a intense work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 arrives on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be hosted in the America, with just over three months to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are aware there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic project in March 2023 not long after it was created, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core from that point and enjoys a amused expression when reflecting on the experience.
“There might be a brief moment thinking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you think: ‘Yeah, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has been quite like the task of bringing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a factory team backed by the owner, GM, into F1.
“Establishing an grand prix team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you won't have the chance to transform organizational mindset.”
With every day that passes focus are increasingly concentrated on the looming decisive point in Australia and expectations are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any incoming team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented earlier this year and while the CTO shared this view he felt the organization had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “So we arrive and we perform competently. We want to show that this is a professional operation doing the right things on the track. Once we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate progression after that.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Push
In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a duo distinguished for their vast knowledge in operating at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas expressed the mood of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. In my view with this structure, with this team, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To that end recruitment has been in overdrive, with staff now at more than 400 and intended to hit the target of 600 quickly. Complementing their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the midst of completing an main base at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to produce the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will run Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, at odds with the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred.
NASA Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” remarked the team principal ahead of the Silverstone race in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure akin to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of project teams all focusing on various components of the program at a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a protocol where an issue arises and they report it to their supervisor, that leader communicates with a supervisor in another department, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” explains Nick Chester. “So we empower team members to take charge. Avoiding management approval for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this nimble approach will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
