A little more than one year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last granted the go-ahead as Formula One’s newest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from the ground up has required a hectic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the campaign to be hosted in the America, with around 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are cognizant there will not be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic project in the spring of 2023 not long after it was established, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its core from that point and enjoys a knowing grin when thinking about the ride.
“You might get a brief moment reflecting at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in less than three years,’” he says. “But then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
The CTO achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in command of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a factory team backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into F1.
“Establishing an grand prix team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you won't have the opportunity to change cultural approach.”
With each day that elapses minds are sharper on the approaching decisive point in Melbourne and goals are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team coming in is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the team had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we arrive and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team doing the proper actions on the circuit. After we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate improvement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Push
In August they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a duo remarkable for their invaluable experience in operating at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas echoed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he said. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and we expect most likely a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident with this setup, with this group, this staff, there’s no reason why we can't manage to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in top gear, with employees now at more than 400 and planned to attain the target of 600 members swiftly. Alongside their current base at the UK base, the team are in the midst of completing an main base at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are building the center to manufacture the power unit, set for 2029 – for now they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organisation, contrary to the trend in F1 for greater centralisation, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred.
Apollo Model
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British GP in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we recognize how tough it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of specialist groups all focusing on distinct elements of the mission at a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their team leader, that supervisor consults a supervisor at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” says Chester. “We give authority to staff to really get on with it. Eliminating management approval for everything is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile methodology will be proven in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
