Just over one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last granted the green light as the world of Formula One's most recent participant for 2026. Building the organization from scratch has required a intense work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the championship to be staged in the America, with just over 100 days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic project in March 2023 not long after it was formed, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core from that point and has a amused expression when reflecting on the journey.
“You can have a brief moment looking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “But then the very next instant you consider: ‘Well, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Nick Chester had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes 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 Corporation, into Formula One.
“Creating an F1 team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you won't have the opportunity to alter organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that elapses thoughts are more focused on the impending critical moment in the Australian GP and goals are being set realistically.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon stated recently and while the CTO echoed this he thought the organization had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he says. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the circuit. When we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on progression from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Push
In August they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo remarkable for their vast knowledge in operating at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he said. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and we expect most likely a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident with this structure, with this group, these personnel, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with personnel now at over 400 and scheduled to reach the goal of six hundred swiftly. Complementing their current base at Silverstone, the organization are in the process of completing an main base at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are building the center to produce the new engine, set for 2029 – for now they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a complex organisation, contrary to the direction in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how tough it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a decentralized management comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all working on distinct elements of the mission across a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their team leader, that manager communicates with a supervisor somewhere else, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “So we empower team members to handle things directly. Moving away from management approval for everything is much smoother and faster.”
The Future
The success of this nimble approach will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a considerable amount riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their development driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
