A little more than twelve months ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last granted the official approval as F1's latest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from nothing has entailed a intense work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be held in the America, with approximately a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent team in March 2023 soon after it was created, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and has a wry smile when reflecting on the journey.
“You might get a brief moment reflecting at what you’ve done and say: ‘Incredible, how impressive what the team has created in less than three years,’” he says. “But then the next minute you consider: ‘Well, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the challenge of introducing the all-American Cadillac name, a factory team sponsored by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Creating an F1 team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you rarely get the possibility to change team culture.”
With each passing day that elapses thoughts are sharper on the approaching decisive point in Australia and expectations are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented recently and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the team had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we show up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team doing the proper actions on the track. After we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on forward movement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Effort
In the summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a duo distinguished for their vast knowledge in competing at the front in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Bottas reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he said. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I believe given this organization, with this group, these people, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in full swing, with employees now up to over 400 and scheduled to hit the target of 600 swiftly. Alongside their current base at Silverstone, the team are in the process of building an HQ at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are building the plant to manufacture the new engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – for now they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a complex organization, contrary to the direction in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we recognize how tough it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have implemented, rather than the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all working on distinct elements of the program across a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a process where an issue arises and they report it to their manager, that manager communicates with a supervisor somewhere else, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” explains Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to take charge. Avoiding management approval for each action is so much cleaner and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible methodology will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the young American Colton Herta
