Approximately twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately granted the go-ahead as Formula One’s newest entrant for 2026. Constructing the team from nothing has involved a hectic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on the Vegas strip this race weekend, the team understand time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be staged in the America, with approximately three months to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, joined the nascent project in March 2023 shortly after it was created, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a amused expression when reflecting on the ride.
“You can have a short period thinking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Amazing, how impressive what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “But then the next minute you think: ‘Well, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester had success at Renault in Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has been quite like the challenge of launching the all-American Cadillac marque, a factory team sponsored by the parent company, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an Formula One team from the ground up, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you don’t get the chance to change cultural approach.”
With each day that goes by minds are increasingly concentrated on the impending critical moment in Melbourne and targets are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal noted earlier this year and while the CTO shared this view he thought 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. “In order that we arrive and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender doing the right things on the track. When we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we want to show forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Effort
In August they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a duo remarkable for their vast knowledge in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver expressed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a difficult start, because it is F1. But we aren't joining to finish last. I am confident with this setup, with these individuals, these personnel, it's entirely possible we can't manage to get relatively quickly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in top gear, with employees now at in excess of 400 and intended to hit the goal of 600 quickly. In addition to their current base at Silverstone, the organization are in the midst of finishing an main base at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to produce the power unit, set for 2029 – for now they will run power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a complex organisation, contrary to the trend in F1 for more centralization, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Chester referred to.
Space Mission Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” remarked the team principal just before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we recognize how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the program across a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their supervisor, that supervisor consults a supervisor somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” explains Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable people to handle things directly. Eliminating managerial sign-off for everything is far more efficient and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this nimble methodology will be tested in the heat of competition next season and there is a considerable amount riding on this for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
