Just over twelve months previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately granted the green light as F1's latest participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from nothing has involved a frenetic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport arrives on the Vegas strip this race weekend, the team know time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the last event of the season to be held in the US, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed project in March 2023 shortly after it was established, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its center from that point and has a knowing grin when considering the journey.
“You can have a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Amazing, how impressive what we have built in less than three years,’” he notes. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Yes, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Opportunity
Chester had success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the mission of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a factory team sponsored by the parent company, GM, into Formula One.
“Building an F1 team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you won't have the possibility to change team culture.”
With each passing day that passes focus are sharper on the approaching critical moment in Australia and goals are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that any new team joining the grid is going to be last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon noted recently and while the CTO shared this view he thought the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So we show up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation doing the proper actions on the circuit. After we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we will focus on improvement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Drive
In late summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a tandem notable for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I believe given this organization, with this group, this staff, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with personnel now at over 400 and scheduled to attain the goal of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the process of finishing an headquarters at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the facility to build the new engine, planned for the 2029 season – for now they will use Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organization, at odds with the movement in F1 for greater centralisation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in July. “We are pragmatic, we understand how challenging it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, rather than the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all working on different aspects of the program at a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their supervisor, that manager consults a supervisor in another department, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” says Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to take charge. Eliminating managerial sign-off for each action is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this nimble methodology will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a significant degree on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
