Approximately twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the green light as the world of Formula One's latest participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from nothing has required a intense operating tempo that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One descends on Vegas this race weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the campaign to be staged in the America, with just over three months to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are conscious there will not be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in March 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core ever since and gets a knowing grin when considering the journey.
“You might get five minutes reflecting at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you realize: ‘Well, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the challenge of bringing the all-American Cadillac marque, a works entry sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into Formula One.
“Creating an F1 team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you don’t get the chance to change team culture.”
With each passing day that passes focus are sharper on the looming decisive point in Australia and expectations are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any new team coming in is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon stated recently and while the CTO echoed this he felt the team had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we should be there,” he says. “In order that we show up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation executing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate progression from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their vast knowledge in operating at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We have a massive task to do, and it’s going to be most likely a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I am confident with this setup, with this team, this staff, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in full swing, with staff now reaching over 400 and intended to attain the goal of six hundred rapidly. Complementing their current base at Silverstone, the organization are in the phase of building an main base at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are developing the center to produce the new engine, set for 2029 – for now they will run Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organisation, contrary to the trend in the sport for increased consolidation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
Apollo Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how tough it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of project teams all focusing on various components of the mission at a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they raise it up to their team leader, that manager communicates with a supervisor at a different location, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” notes Chester. “We give authority to staff to really get on with it. Avoiding managerial sign-off for each action is so much cleaner and faster.”
The Future
The effectiveness of this nimble methodology will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a significant degree riding on this for the sport, too. Cadillac have recruited as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
