A little more than twelve months previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally given the go-ahead as F1's latest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from nothing has involved a hectic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be hosted in the America, with approximately 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart since then and has a wry smile when considering the experience.
“You might get five minutes reflecting at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he notes. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Yes, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the challenge of introducing the all-American Cadillac marque, a works entry sponsored by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Creating an F1 team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you rarely get the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With each day that passes thoughts are more focused on the looming moment of truth in Australia and targets are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad entering the sport is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal stated this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team executing the correct procedures on the circuit. When we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on improvement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Effort
In late summer they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to finish last. In my view with this structure, with this group, these personnel, there is every reason that we won't be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in full swing, with staff now at over 400 and planned to attain the objective of six hundred quickly. Complementing their present headquarters at the UK base, the squad are in the midst of completing an main base at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are developing the center to produce the new engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – for now they will run Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a sophisticated structure, contrary to the trend in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred.
NASA Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we understand how tough it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of specialist groups all working on different aspects of the mission across a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a procedure where an issue arises and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader communicates with a manager in another department, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” explains the CTO. “We give authority to staff to really get on with it. Eliminating hierarchical consent for everything is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this agile strategy will be proven in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a considerable amount at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
