Just over one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally given the green light as F1's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from scratch has involved a intense work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be hosted in the US, with around 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are conscious there will never be sufficient time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent team in early 2023 not long after it was established, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its center from that point and enjoys a wry smile when reflecting on the experience.
“There might be a short period looking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Amazing, how impressive what the team has created in less than three years,’” he says. “But then the next minute you consider: ‘Yes, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Chester had success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in command of technical development at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has truly matched the challenge of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into F1.
“Building an F1 team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you won't have the possibility to alter team culture.”
With every day that passes focus are sharper on the impending decisive point in the Australian GP and expectations are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad entering the sport is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated recently and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the team had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we operate well. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation executing the correct procedures on the race track. Once we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate progression subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Drive
In the summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in performing at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with this team, this staff, there’s no reason why we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in top gear, with personnel now reaching in excess of 400 and scheduled to attain the target of 600 quickly. Complementing their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the phase of building an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to manufacture the new engine, set for the 2029 season – for now they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a intricate organisation, different from the direction in the sport for more centralization, and has led to the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred.
Space Mission Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in July. “We’re realistic, we know how challenging it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of specialist groups all tackling distinct elements of the program at a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they report it to their supervisor, that manager communicates with a leader at a different location, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” says Nick Chester. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Moving away from managerial sign-off for each action is much smoother and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is no little amount on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta
