Just over twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately awarded the go-ahead as F1's newest entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from nothing has entailed a hectic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 arrives on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the campaign to be held in the United States, with approximately 100 days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic project in early 2023 shortly after it was created, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its center since then and enjoys a wry smile when considering the journey.
“There might be five minutes thinking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in less than three years,’” he says. “Then the next minute you think: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has quite compared with the mission of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the parent company, GM, into Formula One.
“Establishing an Formula One team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you won't have the possibility to transform cultural approach.”
With each passing day that goes by minds are sharper on the looming critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being managed.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal noted recently and while Nick Chester shared this view he felt the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he says. “In order that we show up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the race track. After we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we want to show forward movement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Effort
In the summer they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a duo remarkable for their invaluable experience in competing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver echoed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and we expect most likely a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I am confident with this setup, with this group, these personnel, there’s no reason why we can't manage to get relatively quickly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To that end recruitment has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to more than 400 and planned to reach the objective of 600 swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the process of building an main base at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the center to produce the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, at odds with the direction in F1 for greater centralisation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Chester referred.
NASA Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” remarked the team principal ahead of the British GP in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, rather than the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the project at a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their supervisor, that supervisor consults a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes Nick Chester. “So we empower people to really get on with it. Avoiding managerial sign-off for each action is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this flexible strategy will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is no little amount at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their test driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
