A little more than twelve months in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last granted the go-ahead as Formula One’s newest entry for 2026. Constructing the organization from nothing has involved a intense work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport descends on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be staged in the America, with just over 100 days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed operation in early 2023 not long after it was created, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and gets a wry smile when reflecting on the experience.
“There might be a brief moment reflecting at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Amazing, how impressive what the team has created in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yes, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in command of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has quite compared with the challenge of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Building an F1 team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you won't have the opportunity to change cultural approach.”
With each passing day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the impending critical moment in the Australian GP and expectations are being set realistically.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon noted recently and while Chester echoed this he felt the organization had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “In order that we show up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation performing the proper actions on the track. Once we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on improvement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Push
In late summer they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a duo notable for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Bottas echoed the attitude of combative optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to finish last. I believe with this structure, with this team, this staff, there is every reason that we can't manage to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in top gear, with staff now reaching more than 400 and scheduled to reach the goal of 600 members swiftly. Alongside their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the phase of completing an main base at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are building the plant to produce the new engine, planned for 2029 – until then they will run Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organization, different from the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester alluded.
NASA Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” said Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how tough it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a decentralized management akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of project teams all tackling distinct elements of the project at a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a protocol where a challenge emerges and they report it to their manager, that leader consults a leader at a different location, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” notes Nick Chester. “We give authority to people to take charge. Moving away from managerial sign-off for all decisions is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible approach will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a considerable amount riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their test driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
