A little more than a full year ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the go-ahead as Formula One’s latest entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from the ground up has required a intense work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 converges on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be hosted in the America, with around a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in the spring of 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and gets a wry smile when reflecting on the ride.
“There might be a brief moment reflecting at what you’ve done and go: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “And then the next minute you realize: ‘Yeah, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in command of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the mission of introducing the all-American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the parent company, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an F1 team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you don’t get the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With each day that passes thoughts are more focused on the looming critical moment in Melbourne and expectations are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad coming in is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So that we show up and we perform competently. We want to show that we’re a proper team executing the right things on the race track. When we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate improvement from there on.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Push
In the summer they contracted Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their racers for 2026, a duo notable for their invaluable experience in performing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it’s going to be most likely a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I am confident given this organization, with these individuals, these people, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in overdrive, with employees now reaching over 400 and intended to attain the objective of 600 rapidly. Alongside their present headquarters at Silverstone, the squad are in the process of completing an main base at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are building the facility to build the power unit, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will run Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate structure, contrary to the movement in F1 for greater centralisation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred to.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said Lowdon ahead of the British GP in July. “We’re realistic, we recognize how difficult it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of project teams all focusing on distinct elements of the project at a different facilities.
“When you must follow a process where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that manager consults a manager in another department, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes the CTO. “So we empower staff to handle things directly. Eliminating hierarchical consent for all decisions is much smoother and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this agile methodology will be proven in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
