Approximately a full year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the go-ahead as Formula One’s latest entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from scratch has required a frenetic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on Las Vegas this weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be staged in the America, with around a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent team in March 2023 not long after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core ever since and enjoys a wry smile when reflecting on the journey.
“There might be five minutes thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he notes. “But then the very next instant you realize: ‘Yeah, there is still a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a factory team backed by the parent company, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you rarely get the opportunity to alter cultural approach.”
With each passing day that elapses minds are sharper on the looming critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team coming in is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” the team principal commented this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So we show up and we perform competently. We want to show that we’re a proper team doing the right things on the track. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Drive
In August they recruited Sergio Perez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a duo notable for their invaluable experience in operating at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the mood of combative optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We have a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because it is F1. But we’re not there to finish last. In my view with this setup, with this team, this staff, there’s no reason why we won't be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in overdrive, with employees now up to in excess of 400 and scheduled to attain the target of six hundred swiftly. In addition to their current base at the UK base, the squad are in the midst of completing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the center to manufacture the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – for now they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, different from the trend in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Chester referred to.
Space Mission Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how tough it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of project teams all focusing on distinct elements of the project at a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a procedure where someone has a problem and they report it to their supervisor, that supervisor communicates with a leader at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” says Chester. “Therefore we enable people to handle things directly. Eliminating hierarchical consent for each action is so much cleaner and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile approach will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta
