Nick Chester is a British Formula 1 engineer who serves as Chief Technical Officer of the Cadillac Formula 1 Team. Born on 22 March 1969 in Ripon, England, he brings nearly three decades of single-seater engineering experience — much of it leading the technical effort at the Enstone factory — to the sport's newest constructor. ¹

Education and early career

Chester graduated in engineering from Cambridge University in 1991. He began at Simtek Research in vehicle simulation, moving to the firm's Formula 1 entry in 1994, then joined Arrows in 1995, progressing from simulation to suspension design and on to performance- and race-engineering roles with drivers including Damon Hill, Pedro Diniz, Mika Salo and Pedro de la Rosa. ¹

“Nick Chester is a British Formula 1 engineer who serves as Chief Technical Officer of the Cadillac Formula 1 Team.”

Benetton and Renault

In 2000 he joined Benetton, where he became performance engineer for Giancarlo Fisichella and then race engineer for Jarno Trulli, working on the Italian's lone F1 victory at Monaco in 2004. As the team became Renault, Chester rose to head of the Vehicle Performance Group from 2005, contributing to the double World Championship-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and the development of the team's tuned mass-damper system. ¹

Technical Director at Enstone

Chester was appointed engineering director in 2012 and, in May 2013, replaced James Allison as Technical Director of the Enstone team. In that role he was responsible for the design and development of every Formula 1 car produced by the operation through its Lotus and Renault guises until January 2020, including the race-winning E20 and E21. ¹

Formula E and the Cadillac project

After leaving Enstone, Chester became technical director of the Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team from July 2020, a role that continued into the McLaren Formula E programme. In March 2023 he joined Andretti Global as technical director for its Formula 1 project, based at its UK headquarters, and since 2025 he has served as Chief Technical Officer of the Cadillac Formula 1 Team, leading the technical organisation as it built toward the 2026 grid entry. ¹²³

Bottom line

Chester is the senior engineering leader charged with delivering Cadillac's first F1 car under the sport's new-for-2026 regulations. His long record running the technical department of a midfield team — and designing championship-contending machinery at Enstone — gives the start-up a proven technical hand at the top. ²³