Approximately one year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last granted the green light as the world of Formula One's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Building the squad from nothing has required a frenetic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the last event of the season to be hosted in the United States, with around a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are conscious there will never be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed team in March 2023 soon after it was formed, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and has a amused expression when thinking about the journey.
“You might get five minutes looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “But then the very next instant you consider: ‘Well, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Chester achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has truly matched the task of bringing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a works entry backed by the owner, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Creating an F1 team from the ground up, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you rarely get the opportunity to change team culture.”
With each passing day that elapses focus are sharper on the approaching moment of truth in Australia and goals are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal stated this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the team had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “So that we show up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation executing the correct procedures on the track. When we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Effort
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Bottas echoed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to finish last. I believe given this organization, with this group, these personnel, there is every reason that we won't be able to get relatively quickly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with personnel now at over 400 and intended to reach the goal of six hundred swiftly. Alongside their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the process of completing an HQ at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to manufacture the new engine, set for 2029 – for now they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organisation, at odds with the movement in F1 for more centralization, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester alluded.
Apollo Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said Lowdon just before the British GP in July. “We’re realistic, we recognize how tough it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all working on different aspects of the project in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their manager, that manager consults a supervisor in another department, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” notes the CTO. “So we empower team members to handle things directly. Avoiding management approval for each action is much smoother and faster.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this nimble approach will be proven in the pressure of racing next season and there is no little amount on the line for F1, too. Cadillac have taken on as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
