A little more than one year previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the go-ahead as Formula One’s newest entrant for 2026. Establishing the squad from nothing has involved a hectic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One arrives on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the season to be held in the US, with around 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are conscious there will not be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed team in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was created, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart from that point and enjoys a knowing grin when considering the experience.
“You can have a short period thinking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in under three years,’” he notes. “And then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yes, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Chester achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an F1 team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you rarely get the possibility to transform team culture.”
With each passing day that goes by focus are sharper on the looming moment of truth in Melbourne and expectations are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated recently and while Nick Chester shared this view he felt the team had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he says. “In order that we arrive and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation executing the right things on the race track. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Effort
In August they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their vast knowledge in operating at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I am confident with this structure, with this group, these personnel, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and achieve good results.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to more than 400 and scheduled to reach the objective of six hundred quickly. Complementing their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the midst of completing an headquarters at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – for now they will run power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a intricate structure, at odds with the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we know how tough it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, instead of the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of project teams all focusing on distinct elements of the program at a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a protocol where an issue arises and they report it to their team leader, that leader talks to a supervisor somewhere else, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes Chester. “We give authority to staff to really get on with it. Eliminating managerial sign-off for each action is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be proven in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is no little amount at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the emerging American Colton Herta
