Approximately one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the green light as Formula One’s most recent entry for 2026. Constructing the squad from the ground up has involved a frenetic operating tempo that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport descends on Vegas this race weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the season finale of the campaign to be held in the US, with around a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in March 2023 shortly after it was established, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core since then and gets a knowing grin when reflecting on the experience.
“You might get five minutes reflecting at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “Then the next minute you think: ‘Yes, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
The CTO enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a factory team backed by the owner, General Motors, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity 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 passing day that elapses minds are sharper on the approaching critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he believed the team had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So we turn up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we’re a proper team performing the correct procedures on the circuit. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Effort
In August they recruited Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We face a mountain of work to do, and we expect most likely a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. In my view given this organization, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in full swing, with staff now up to over 400 and planned to attain the goal of 600 members swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at Silverstone, the organization are in the process of building an main base at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the plant to build the new engine, planned for 2029 – for now they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a complex structure, contrary to the trend in the sport for greater centralisation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester alluded.
Apollo Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, instead of the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the mission at a different facilities.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they escalate it to their supervisor, that leader consults a supervisor at a different location, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” explains the CTO. “So we empower people to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for all decisions is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this nimble approach will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a significant degree on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their test driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
