Approximately a full year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the official approval as F1's newest participant for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from nothing has entailed a frenetic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on Vegas this weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the championship to be hosted in the US, with approximately 100 days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing 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 sisyphean task, they are conscious there will not be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent team in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was created, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core from that point and enjoys a knowing grin when reflecting on the experience.
“You can have a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you realize: ‘Yes, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
The CTO enjoyed success at Renault in Alonso's championship-winning campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the mission of bringing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a works entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Building an F1 team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you don’t get the chance to transform cultural approach.”
With every day that elapses minds are sharper on the approaching critical moment in Melbourne and expectations are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team coming in is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” the team principal stated recently and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he thought the organization had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “So we show up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation doing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we want to show forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Effort
In the summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a duo notable for their priceless expertise in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and we expect most likely a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I believe given this organization, with this group, these personnel, it's entirely possible we can't manage to advance swiftly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in full swing, with personnel now up to more than 400 and intended to attain the target of six hundred rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the process of building an headquarters at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to produce the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – until then they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organization, at odds with the movement in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred to.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” stated Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how difficult it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, instead of the traditional management structure, a flat management structure akin to that of NASA's, where there were a range of project teams all tackling different aspects of the project across a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a protocol where an issue arises and they escalate it to their supervisor, that supervisor communicates with a manager somewhere else, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes Chester. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is much smoother and more rapid.”
The Future
The effectiveness of this nimble approach will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
