Approximately twelve months previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately granted the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for 2026. Constructing the squad from nothing has involved a hectic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One arrives on Vegas this weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be held in the US, with around a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are cognizant there will never be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in early 2023 not long after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center from that point and has a knowing grin when thinking about the ride.
“You might get a short period thinking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in less than three years,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Well, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
The CTO had success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the challenge of bringing the all-American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an F1 team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you don’t get the opportunity to alter team culture.”
With each passing day that elapses thoughts are sharper on the approaching moment of truth in Melbourne and expectations are being managed.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while the CTO echoed this he thought the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “In order that we turn up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the right things on the track. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we want to show improvement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Effort
In late summer they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in competing at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Bottas echoed the mood of combative optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We have a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I am confident given this organization, with these individuals, this staff, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To that end recruitment has been in top gear, with staff now up to over 400 and scheduled to reach the target of 600 quickly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the squad are in the midst of building an headquarters at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to produce the power unit, scheduled for the 2029 season – for now they will run power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a complex organization, different from the movement in F1 for greater centralisation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” stated Lowdon shortly before the British GP in July. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how challenging it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, rather than the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all working on distinct elements of the program in a different facilities.
“When you must follow a procedure where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their team leader, that leader communicates with a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” says Chester. “So we empower staff to handle things directly. Avoiding managerial sign-off for everything is so much cleaner and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be evaluated in the pressure of racing next season and there is no little amount on the line for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their development driver the young American Colton Herta
