Just over one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the go-ahead as Formula One’s most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Building the squad from nothing has involved a hectic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on the Vegas strip this race weekend, the team understand time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the last event of the championship to be hosted in the US, with around three months to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent team in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was established, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core from that point and has a amused expression when reflecting on the journey.
“You can have a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “Then the very next instant you consider: ‘Well, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical development at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the challenge of bringing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team supported by the parent company, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Establishing an Formula One team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you won't have the chance to alter cultural approach.”
With each day that passes thoughts are more focused on the impending critical moment in Australia and goals are being handled.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented earlier this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he believed the squad had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we turn up and we perform competently. We want to show that we are a serious contender performing the correct procedures on the track. When we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement after that.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Effort
In the summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in competing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the mood of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We face a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to finish last. I believe with this setup, with this team, this staff, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in top gear, with personnel now reaching more than 400 and planned to reach the target of 600 members swiftly. In addition to their present headquarters at the UK base, the team are in the process of building an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to produce the power unit, set for 2029 – for now they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, different from the direction in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO alluded.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” said Graeme Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in the summer. “We’re realistic, we recognize how tough it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of project teams all tackling different aspects of the project across a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they escalate it to their team leader, that supervisor consults a supervisor in another department, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” explains Nick Chester. “So we empower team members to take charge. Avoiding managerial sign-off for all decisions is so much cleaner and faster.”
The Future
The effectiveness of this agile methodology will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a significant degree on the line for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta
