A little more than one year previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the green light as the world of Formula One's newest entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from scratch has entailed a hectic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One arrives on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the championship to be staged in the America, with around three months to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed project in the spring of 2023 not long after it was established, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart since then and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.
“You can have five minutes looking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Yeah, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
The CTO achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning years of the mid-2000s and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has truly matched the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the owner, GM, into Formula One.
“Establishing an F1 team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you rarely get the possibility to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that goes by focus are more focused on the impending decisive point in Australia and expectations are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon noted recently and while Chester echoed this he believed the organization had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So we turn up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we are a serious contender performing the right things on the track. After we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we want to show forward movement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Drive
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver echoed the attitude of combative optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I believe with this setup, with this team, these personnel, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To that end recruitment has been in top gear, with staff now at in excess of 400 and intended to reach the goal of 600 quickly. In addition to their existing facility at the UK base, the squad are in the phase of building an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are building the center to produce the power unit, set for 2029 – until then they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organization, at odds with the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred to.
Space Mission Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” stated Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how tough it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. 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 non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of project teams all working on distinct elements of the mission across a different facilities.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they raise it up to their manager, that leader communicates with a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes Chester. “We give authority to team members to really get on with it. Moving away from managerial sign-off for each action is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible approach will be evaluated 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 signed as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
