Just over twelve months previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the green light as Formula One’s most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from nothing has involved a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One converges on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the last event of the season to be held in the United States, with around three months to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed operation in March 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center since then and enjoys a amused expression when considering the ride.
“You can have a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in less than three years,’” he says. “But then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has been quite like the challenge of introducing the all-American Cadillac marque, a factory team sponsored by the parent company, General Motors, into F1.
“Creating an grand prix team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you won't have the possibility to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the impending decisive point in Melbourne and targets are being handled.
“One must presume that any new team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted recently and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he believed the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we show up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation performing the right things on the circuit. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on forward movement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Push
In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their pilots for the 2026 season, a duo notable for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver expressed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he said. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and we expect probably a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I believe with this structure, with this group, this staff, it's entirely possible we can't manage to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in full swing, with employees now reaching over 400 and planned to hit the goal of 600 members swiftly. In addition to their current base at the UK base, the squad are in the midst of finishing an HQ at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are constructing the plant to manufacture the 2029 engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – for now they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, different from the movement in F1 for more centralization, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester alluded.
Space Mission Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” stated Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how challenging it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, instead of the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all focusing on various components of the project at a different facilities.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their team leader, that manager consults a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” explains Chester. “We give authority to team members to take charge. Avoiding managerial sign-off for each action is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this agile approach will be tested in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a considerable amount riding on this for F1, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
