Just over twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the official approval as F1's latest entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the squad from nothing has involved a intense pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One converges on the Vegas strip this race weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be held in the United States, with around 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in March 2023 not long after it was established, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart from that point and has a knowing grin when considering the journey.
“There might be five minutes reflecting at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what the team has created in under three years,’” Chester states. “But then the following moment you think: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical direction at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the task of introducing the all-American Cadillac name, a factory team backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you don’t get the opportunity to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that goes by thoughts are more focused on the looming moment of truth in the Australian GP and expectations are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any incoming team joining the grid is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated recently and while Chester echoed this he felt the organization had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “In order that we arrive and we perform competently. We want to show that this is a professional operation performing the right things on the track. When we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement from there on.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Effort
In late summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a pair distinguished for their vast knowledge in operating at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas echoed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with these individuals, this staff, there’s no reason why we can't manage to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in top gear, with employees now up to more than 400 and planned to attain the objective of 600 swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the process of completing an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to build the new engine, planned for 2029 – for now they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the direction in F1 for more centralization, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Chester alluded.
Space Mission Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” remarked the team principal ahead of the Silverstone race in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we understand how challenging it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of project teams all working on different aspects of the program at a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a procedure where an issue arises and they raise it up to their team leader, that manager talks to a leader somewhere else, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” says Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to take charge. Moving away from hierarchical consent for all decisions is so much cleaner and quicker.”
The Future
The success of this nimble strategy will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a considerable amount riding on this for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
