A little more than one year in the past at the Las Vegas 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. Constructing the team from scratch has involved a frenetic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 converges on Vegas this race weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be held in the United States, with approximately a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed team in early 2023 not long after it was established, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and has a knowing grin when thinking about the ride.
“You can have a brief moment thinking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in less than three years,’” Chester states. “And then the next minute you think: ‘Yeah, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Task
The CTO achieved victories at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the challenge of launching the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the parent company, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Creating an grand prix team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you don’t get the opportunity to change team culture.”
With each day that goes by focus are more focused on the approaching moment of truth in Australia and targets are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team coming in is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon noted earlier this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “In order 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. Once we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate improvement after that.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Push
In the summer they signed Checo Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair notable for their priceless expertise in operating at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Bottas reflected the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We have a mountain of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I believe with this structure, with these individuals, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in top gear, with personnel now at over 400 and planned to attain the goal of 600 members quickly. Alongside their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the midst of finishing an main base at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are building the facility to manufacture the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a complex organisation, at odds with the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Chester referred to.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” stated Graeme Lowdon just before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how tough it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of project teams all tackling different aspects of the mission in a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a procedure where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their team leader, that supervisor communicates with a supervisor at a different location, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” notes Chester. “So we empower staff to handle things directly. Avoiding managerial sign-off for all decisions is so much cleaner and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this nimble methodology will be proven in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is a significant degree riding on this for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
