Just over one year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last granted the green light as F1's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Building the team from the ground up has involved a hectic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One descends on Vegas this weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the season finale of the campaign to be staged in the US, with just over 100 days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in March 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center ever since and has a knowing grin when considering the experience.
“You might get a brief moment thinking back at what you’ve done and think: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he says. “But then the next minute you think: ‘Well, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the task of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a factory team supported by the parent company, GM, into Formula One.
“Creating an Formula One team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you don’t get the possibility to alter cultural approach.”
With each day that goes by minds are more focused on the looming moment of truth in Australia and goals are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is going to be last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted earlier this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he believed the team had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we show up and we perform competently. We want to show that we’re a proper team executing the right things on the race track. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we want to show improvement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Push
In the summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Bottas expressed the sentiment of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with these individuals, these personnel, there is every reason that we won't be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to more than 400 and intended to reach the goal of 600 members quickly. Alongside their current base at the UK base, the organization are in the phase 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 constructing the plant to produce the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – until then they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, at odds with the trend in the sport for increased consolidation, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked Graeme Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we understand how challenging it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, instead of the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure akin to that of NASA's, where there were a range of project teams all focusing on various components of the project in a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where an issue arises and they escalate it to their supervisor, that leader consults a manager somewhere else, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” explains Chester. “Therefore we enable people to handle things directly. Avoiding managerial sign-off for everything is much smoother and faster.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be tested in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is a significant degree riding on this for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
