Approximately a full year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the green light as Formula One’s latest entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from the ground up has involved a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One descends on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the championship to be staged in the United States, with approximately a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are aware there will never be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed project in March 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart from that point and has a amused expression when considering the experience.
“You might get a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and think: ‘Incredible, how impressive what the team has created in under three years,’” Chester states. “But then the following moment you consider: ‘Well, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the mission of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry supported by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Building an Formula One team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you rarely get the chance to transform cultural approach.”
With each day that goes by minds are increasingly concentrated on the looming moment of truth in Melbourne and targets are being managed.
“One must presume that any new team coming in is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal noted this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he thought the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we should be there,” he says. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the track. Once we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we will focus on improvement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Effort
In August they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver expressed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I believe given this organization, with these individuals, these personnel, there’s no reason why we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To that end hiring has been in overdrive, with employees now reaching over 400 and scheduled to hit the goal of 600 members rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the squad are in the phase of finishing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to build the power unit, planned for 2029 – until then they will run power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organisation, different from the direction in F1 for greater centralisation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred.
NASA Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how tough it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, rather than the traditional management structure, a decentralized management akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of project teams all focusing on various components of the mission in a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they report it to their team leader, that supervisor consults a leader in another department, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to team members to really get on with it. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is so much cleaner and faster.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this agile strategy will be evaluated in the pressure of racing next season and there is no little amount riding on this for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
