A little more than a full year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately granted the go-ahead as Formula One’s latest entry for 2026. Establishing the team from the ground up has required a hectic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be hosted in the United States, with approximately three months to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent team in early 2023 not long after it was created, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and enjoys a knowing grin when considering the experience.
“There might be a brief moment reflecting at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he notes. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has been quite like the mission of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the parent company, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Building an F1 team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you rarely get the opportunity to alter cultural approach.”
With each day that goes by thoughts are more focused on the looming critical moment in Melbourne and targets are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he felt the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we show up and we operate well. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team doing the correct procedures on the circuit. When we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we will focus on forward movement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Effort
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a duo remarkable for their invaluable experience in competing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas expressed the mood of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a difficult start, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with these individuals, this staff, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in top gear, with staff now reaching over 400 and planned to reach the goal of 600 quickly. Alongside their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the process of finishing an HQ at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are developing the center to build the 2029 engine, planned for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organisation, contrary to the direction in F1 for more centralization, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Chester referred.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” stated Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We’re realistic, we recognize how challenging it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of project teams all working on different aspects of the program in a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a procedure where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their team leader, that leader consults a manager at a different location, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” says Nick Chester. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Avoiding management approval for each action is much smoother and more rapid.”
The Future
The success of this flexible approach will be proven in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta
