Approximately a full year previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last given the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's latest participant for the 2026 season. Building the organization from scratch has involved a frenetic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the campaign to be held in the United States, with around three months to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed operation in early 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and has a amused expression when considering the ride.
“You can have a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in under three years,’” Chester states. “Then the next minute you think: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
The CTO enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the task of introducing the all-American Cadillac name, a works entry sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Establishing an F1 team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you don’t get the possibility to change team culture.”
With each passing day that goes by thoughts are more focused on the impending moment of truth in the Australian GP and goals are being handled.
“One must presume that any new team coming in is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated 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 deserve to be there,” he says. “So that we show up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation executing the right things on the race track. After we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Drive
In August they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a tandem notable for their vast knowledge in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas expressed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with this group, this staff, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in top gear, with personnel now reaching in excess of 400 and planned to reach the target of 600 members quickly. Alongside their current base at Silverstone, the organization are in the midst of finishing an HQ at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to build the power unit, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organization, contrary to the movement in F1 for greater centralisation, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Chester referred.
NASA Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British GP in July. “We’re realistic, we understand how difficult it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling different aspects of the program across a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a process where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their team leader, that supervisor communicates with a supervisor in another department, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” notes Chester. “So we empower staff to handle things directly. Avoiding hierarchical consent for all decisions is much smoother and faster.”
The Future
The efficacy of this agile strategy will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their test driver the emerging American Colton Herta
