Approximately one year previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately awarded the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's latest entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from the ground up has involved a intense work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As the sport arrives on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the campaign to be hosted in the US, with approximately 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are cognizant there will not be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed operation in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its center ever since and gets a wry smile when considering the ride.
“There might be a brief moment looking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” he notes. “And then the following moment you realize: ‘Well, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has been quite like the task of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you rarely get the possibility to transform organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that elapses focus are more focused on the approaching critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted this year and while the CTO shared this view he felt the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “In order that we show up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender executing the proper actions on the track. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate improvement after that.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Drive
In August they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a pair notable for their priceless expertise in performing at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Bottas reflected the mood of determined optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he said. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. In my view with this setup, with these individuals, these personnel, it's entirely possible we can't manage to progress rapidly to the front and achieve good results.”
To that end hiring has been in full swing, with staff now at more than 400 and intended to reach the objective of 600 rapidly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the squad are in the phase of finishing an main base at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to build the power unit, planned for 2029 – until then they will run Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organization, at odds with the movement in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Chester alluded.
NASA Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” stated the team principal ahead of the British GP in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how difficult it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of specialist groups all working on different aspects of the program across a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a protocol where an issue arises and they raise it up to their manager, that manager talks to a supervisor at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” notes Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to take charge. Moving away from management approval for each action is much smoother and faster.”
The Future
The success of this flexible methodology will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a considerable amount riding on this for F1, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
