Just over twelve months previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the official approval as the world of Formula One's latest entrant for 2026. Establishing the squad from the ground up has required a frenetic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport converges on Vegas this weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be held in the America, with around 100 days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in the spring of 2023 not long after it was formed, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core since then and enjoys a wry smile when thinking about the experience.
“You might get a short period looking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what the team has created in under three years,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you think: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac name, a factory team sponsored by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Establishing an grand prix team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you don’t get the possibility to transform cultural approach.”
With each passing day that elapses thoughts are sharper on the impending critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any new team coming in 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 felt the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we are a serious contender performing the proper actions on the track. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we will focus on improvement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a pair notable for their vast knowledge in operating at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he said. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be probably a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. In my view with this setup, with this group, this staff, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in top gear, with personnel now up to over 400 and intended to attain the target of 600 swiftly. In addition to their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the process of completing an headquarters at Fishers in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are constructing the plant to manufacture the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will use Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a complex organisation, different from the movement in the sport for more centralization, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred.
Space Mission Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how challenging it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, instead of the traditional management structure, a decentralized management akin to that of NASA's, where there were a range of specialist groups all tackling distinct elements of the program at a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a procedure where someone has a problem and they report it to their team leader, that supervisor consults a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes Chester. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Moving away from managerial sign-off for each action is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this nimble methodology will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is a considerable amount riding on this for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
