Approximately one year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last granted the official approval as F1's most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from scratch has entailed a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport arrives on the Vegas strip this race weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the final race of the championship to be staged in the America, with around 100 days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in the spring of 2023 not long after it was formed, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and enjoys a amused expression when thinking about the experience.
“There might be five minutes thinking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Amazing, how impressive what the team has created in less than three years,’” he says. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yes, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the challenge of bringing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a factory team sponsored by the owner, 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 is like nothing else. In an well-set team you won't have the possibility to alter team culture.”
With each day that goes by minds are more focused on the looming critical moment in Australia and expectations are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any new team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon noted this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a reputation to build 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 function efficiently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the race track. Once we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on progression from there on.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Drive
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo remarkable for their vast knowledge in operating at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We face a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to finish last. I believe with this structure, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we won't be able to advance swiftly to the front and achieve good results.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in overdrive, with employees now up to more than 400 and scheduled to attain the goal of 600 members quickly. In addition to their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the phase of building an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to build the new engine, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate structure, different from the direction in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred.
Space Mission Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” remarked Graeme Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how challenging it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, rather than the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of project teams all focusing on different aspects of the project in a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they escalate it to their manager, that leader communicates with a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” explains Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable people to handle things directly. Moving away from managerial sign-off for everything is so much cleaner and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible strategy will be evaluated in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
