Approximately a full year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last granted the official approval as the world of Formula One's newest participant for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from scratch has required a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the season to be hosted in the United States, with approximately a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed operation in early 2023 soon after it was formed, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core since then and enjoys a knowing grin when considering the ride.
“You might get a short period thinking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Well, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Nick Chester had success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical development at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the challenge of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the owner, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Establishing an F1 team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you rarely get the opportunity to change cultural approach.”
With each day that goes by minds are more focused on the looming critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad joining the grid is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon commented earlier this year and while the CTO shared this view he thought the organization had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So we turn up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team executing the correct procedures on the circuit. When we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Effort
In the summer they recruited Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a pair notable for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We have a massive task to do, and we expect most likely a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to finish last. I am confident given this organization, with this group, these personnel, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in full swing, with personnel now reaching over 400 and scheduled to reach the objective of 600 members swiftly. Alongside their present headquarters at Silverstone, the squad are in the phase of completing an HQ at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are constructing the facility to produce the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – for now they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a complex structure, different from the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred.
Space Mission Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” said Lowdon just before the British GP in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we know how tough it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, instead of the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of specialist groups all working on various components of the project at a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a procedure where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their team leader, that leader talks to a manager somewhere else, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” says the CTO. “We give authority to people to handle things directly. Avoiding hierarchical consent for each action is far more efficient and quicker.”
The Future
The success of this flexible strategy will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a considerable amount riding on this for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
