Just over one year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last awarded the go-ahead as Formula One’s latest entrant for 2026. Establishing the organization from nothing has entailed a hectic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the season finale of the season to be hosted in the US, with around 100 days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne 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 cognizant there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the nascent operation in March 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart ever since and gets a amused expression when considering the journey.
“There might be a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in less than three years,’” he notes. “But then the following moment you consider: ‘Yes, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
Chester had success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the task of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a factory team sponsored by the parent company, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an Formula One team from the ground up, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you rarely get the chance to change team culture.”
With every day that passes focus are more focused on the looming decisive point in Australia and targets are being handled.
“One must presume that any new team entering the sport is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he believed the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “In order that we turn up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team doing the right things on the track. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we will focus on forward movement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Effort
In the summer they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a pair remarkable for their priceless expertise in operating at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Bottas echoed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We have a massive task to do, and we expect most likely a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident given this organization, with this team, these people, there’s no reason why we can't manage to advance swiftly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in full swing, with personnel now up to in excess of 400 and intended to attain the goal of 600 quickly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the organization are in the process of completing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to build the 2029 engine, planned for the 2029 season – for now they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the direction in F1 for more centralization, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Chester alluded.
NASA Model
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” said the team principal just before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we know how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, instead of the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of NASA's, where there were a range of specialist groups all working on distinct elements of the program across a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they report it to their team leader, that manager communicates with a manager at a different location, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” says Chester. “So we empower people to take charge. Eliminating hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this agile approach will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a considerable amount on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
