A little more than a full year previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's latest participant for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from scratch has involved a hectic operating tempo that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the last event of the season to be staged in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are cognizant there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic operation in March 2023 not long after it was created, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core ever since and enjoys a knowing grin when thinking about the experience.
“There might be a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “But then the very next instant you realize: ‘Well, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Nick Chester had success at Renault in Alonso's title-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the challenge of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the parent company, GM, into F1.
“Establishing an grand prix team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you won't have the opportunity to change team culture.”
With each day that passes minds are sharper on the approaching critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is going to be last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while Nick Chester echoed this he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we turn up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the proper actions on the circuit. When we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate progression from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Push
In late summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for the 2026 season, a pair remarkable for their priceless expertise in operating at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. In my view given this organization, with these individuals, these people, there is every reason that we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with personnel now at in excess of 400 and intended to attain the target of six hundred rapidly. Complementing their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the phase of finishing an headquarters at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to produce the new engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will use Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a intricate organisation, contrary to the trend in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
NASA Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in July. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how difficult it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, rather than the traditional management structure, a decentralized management comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a range of specialist groups all focusing on distinct elements of the mission across a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they escalate it to their team leader, that leader communicates with a manager somewhere else, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” says Nick Chester. “We give authority to staff to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for everything is so much cleaner and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible methodology will be proven in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
