Just over twelve months previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally given the go-ahead as F1's newest entrant for 2026. Building the team from nothing has entailed a frenetic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team understand time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the last event of the season to be staged in the US, with approximately three months to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are aware there will never be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed team in the spring of 2023 soon after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a amused expression when thinking about the journey.
“You might get a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Incredible, how impressive what the team has created in less than three years,’” he notes. “But then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, there is still a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical development at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has quite compared with the mission of launching the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the parent company, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an F1 team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you rarely get the opportunity to alter team culture.”
With each passing day that passes minds are increasingly concentrated on the looming decisive point in Australia and goals are being handled.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we should be there,” he says. “So that we turn up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the circuit. Once we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate progression after that.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Effort
In August they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a duo notable for their invaluable experience in competing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to finish last. I believe given this organization, with these individuals, this staff, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with personnel now at more than 400 and scheduled to attain the objective of 600 members rapidly. Complementing their existing facility at the UK base, the team are in the midst of finishing an headquarters at Fishers in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to manufacture the new engine, set for 2029 – until then they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex structure, different from the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred.
Apollo Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how tough it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a decentralized management comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the project at a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a procedure where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their manager, that leader communicates with a supervisor somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” notes Nick Chester. “We give authority to staff to take charge. Avoiding hierarchical consent for all decisions is much smoother and more rapid.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible strategy will be evaluated in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have recruited as their development driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
