A little more than one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally granted the official approval as Formula One’s newest entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from the ground up has involved a intense pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One converges on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be staged in the America, with approximately three months to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are conscious there will never be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed project in early 2023 not long after it was created, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core from that point and enjoys a amused expression when reflecting on the ride.
“You can have a short period thinking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we have built in less than three years,’” he says. “And then the next minute you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Chester achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the challenge of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Building an F1 team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you rarely get the opportunity to change organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that elapses minds are sharper on the impending decisive point in the Australian GP and targets are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while Nick Chester shared this view he believed the organization had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “So that we turn up and we function efficiently. We want to show that this is a professional operation doing the right things on the circuit. When we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement after that.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Effort
In August they contracted Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I believe with this setup, with this team, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in top gear, with employees now at in excess of 400 and scheduled to reach the target of six hundred rapidly. In addition to their current base at the UK base, the team are in the phase of completing an HQ at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the center to manufacture the power unit, set for 2029 – for now they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex structure, at odds with the direction in F1 for increased consolidation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which the CTO alluded.
Space Mission Model
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” said Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in July. “We’re realistic, we recognize how tough it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of specialist groups all focusing on different aspects of the project in a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a procedure where someone has a problem and they report it to their supervisor, that supervisor consults a supervisor in another department, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” explains the CTO. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Moving away from managerial sign-off for everything is far more efficient and faster.”
The Future
The efficacy of this flexible methodology will be tested in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is no little amount at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have recruited as their development driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
