Approximately twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last given the go-ahead as Formula One’s most recent participant for 2026. Constructing the organization from scratch has involved a hectic operating tempo that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 arrives on Vegas this weekend, the team understand time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the season to be held in the America, with just over three months to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent operation in early 2023 soon after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and enjoys a knowing grin when considering the experience.
“You can have a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in under three years,’” he notes. “And then the next minute you realize: ‘Well, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the task of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the parent company, General Motors, into F1.
“Building an grand prix team from the ground up, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you won't have the chance to alter team culture.”
With every day that passes minds are sharper on the approaching critical moment in the Australian GP and expectations are being handled.
“You have to assume that any incoming team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented this year and while Chester shared this view he believed the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So we turn up and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the proper actions on the circuit. Once we prove that we’re really credible, then we want to show improvement after that.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Push
In the summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a tandem notable for their invaluable experience in competing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver echoed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We have a mountain of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I believe given this organization, with this team, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and taste victory.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in full swing, with staff now up to over 400 and scheduled to hit the objective of 600 members quickly. Complementing their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the process of completing an main base at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to build the new engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, contrary to the direction in F1 for more centralization, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we recognize how difficult it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a decentralized management comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of project teams all focusing on various components of the project across a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a process where an issue arises and they raise it up to their supervisor, that manager communicates with a supervisor in another department, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” says Nick Chester. “We give authority to staff to handle things directly. Avoiding managerial sign-off for all decisions is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
The Future
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be evaluated in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a considerable amount at stake for F1, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
