Approximately twelve months ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally given the go-ahead as F1's newest entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from nothing has involved a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on the Vegas strip this race weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the season finale of the season to be held in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are cognizant there will not be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in early 2023 not long after it was created, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center ever since and gets a knowing grin when considering the ride.
“You can have a short period reflecting at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Incredible, how impressive what the team has created in under three years,’” Chester states. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Yes, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in command of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the parent company, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an grand prix team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you rarely get the possibility to alter organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that passes thoughts are sharper on the looming moment of truth in the Australian GP and goals are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any incoming team joining the grid is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” the team principal commented earlier this year and while the CTO shared this view he thought the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we operate well. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team doing the right things on the circuit. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we want to show forward movement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Drive
In the summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their vast knowledge in performing at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I am confident with this structure, with these individuals, this staff, there’s no reason why we won't be able to get relatively quickly to the front and achieve good results.”
To that end recruitment has been in overdrive, with staff now up to over 400 and planned to attain the target of six hundred rapidly. In addition to their current base at the UK base, the organization are in the phase of finishing an headquarters at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to build the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will run power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, at odds with the direction in the sport for increased consolidation, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred.
NASA Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in July. “We’re realistic, we understand how difficult it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, rather than the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of specialist groups all tackling different aspects of the mission in a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a procedure where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader communicates with a supervisor somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” notes Chester. “We give authority to people to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for all decisions is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible strategy will be tested in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a significant degree on the line for F1, too. Cadillac have taken on as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
