Approximately twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the green light as the world of Formula One's latest participant for 2026. Constructing the organization from scratch has required a intense pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on Vegas this race weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be hosted in the America, with around three months to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in early 2023 not long after it was established, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart ever since and enjoys a knowing grin when reflecting on the experience.
“You can have five minutes reflecting at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in under three years,’” Chester states. “But then the next minute you realize: ‘Yes, there is still a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
The CTO achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the owner, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Establishing an grand prix team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you don’t get the possibility to change team culture.”
With each day that elapses thoughts are increasingly concentrated on the looming moment of truth in Australia and expectations are being managed.
“One must presume that any incoming team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted recently and while Nick Chester echoed this he thought the organization had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So that we arrive and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation performing the correct procedures on the race track. After we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on improvement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Drive
In late summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver expressed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be probably a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to finish last. I am confident with this setup, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we won't be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with employees now up to more than 400 and intended to hit the target of 600 members quickly. Complementing their existing facility at Silverstone, the squad are in the phase of building an HQ at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are constructing the plant to manufacture the new engine, planned for 2029 – until then they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex organization, at odds with the trend in the sport for more centralization, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred to.
NASA Inspiration
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” remarked Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We’re realistic, we know how challenging it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, instead of the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of specialist groups 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 escalate it to their supervisor, that leader talks to a leader at a different location, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” says Nick Chester. “So we empower people to take charge. Moving away from managerial sign-off for everything is so much cleaner and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be tested in the heat of competition next season and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
