Approximately twelve months previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the go-ahead as Formula One’s newest entry for 2026. Establishing the squad from nothing has required a hectic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One converges on Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the championship to be hosted in the America, with just over three months to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will not be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was established, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and enjoys a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.
“You can have five minutes reflecting at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “Then the following moment you consider: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
The CTO achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the challenge of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a works entry sponsored by the owner, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an Formula One team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you don’t get the opportunity to alter organizational mindset.”
With every day that passes thoughts are sharper on the approaching decisive point in the Australian GP and goals are being handled.
“You have to assume that any incoming team entering the sport is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon commented earlier this year and while Chester echoed this he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “In order that we show up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the proper actions on the race track. Once we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in competing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver reflected the mood of determined optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I believe with this setup, with this group, these people, it's entirely possible we can't manage to advance swiftly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To that end hiring has been in top gear, with staff now reaching more than 400 and intended to hit the objective of 600 swiftly. Complementing their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the phase of building an HQ at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the plant to build the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organization, different from the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred to.
Apollo Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon just before the British GP in the summer. “We’re realistic, we know how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of project teams all focusing on different aspects of the program across a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their manager, that leader talks to a manager somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” says Chester. “So we empower people to handle things directly. Eliminating hierarchical consent for all decisions is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The success of this nimble strategy will be proven in the pressure of racing next season and there is no little amount at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
