Just over twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last given the official approval as the world of Formula One's newest entry for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from nothing has involved a intense pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on Vegas this race weekend, the team know time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be held in the US, with just over a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic operation in early 2023 not long after it was established, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart from that point and has a wry smile when considering the ride.
“There might be a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Amazing, how impressive what we’ve done in under three years,’” he says. “Then the next minute you realize: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
The CTO had success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious seasons of the mid-2000s and was in control of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has quite compared with the challenge of launching the iconic American Cadillac marque, a factory team supported by the owner, General Motors, into F1.
“Establishing an grand prix team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you rarely get the possibility to alter cultural approach.”
With each day that goes by focus are increasingly concentrated on the impending critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being managed.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad entering the sport is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal noted recently and while Nick Chester shared this view he felt the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we turn up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation doing the proper actions on the track. Once we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Effort
In August they recruited Sergio Perez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in operating at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the mood of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be probably a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. In my view given this organization, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in top gear, with staff now up to more than 400 and intended to attain the goal of 600 members quickly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the organization are in the process of completing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are building the facility to build the new engine, set for the 2029 season – for now they will use Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, at odds with the movement in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred to.
Apollo Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked the team principal just before the Silverstone race in July. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a range of project teams all tackling distinct elements of the program in a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a process where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their supervisor, that supervisor consults a leader at a different location, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” says the CTO. “We give authority to team members to take charge. Moving away from managerial sign-off for everything is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile approach will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
