A little more than a full year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally given the official approval as F1's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Building the team from nothing has involved a intense work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport descends on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the championship to be staged in the US, with approximately three months to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed operation in March 2023 soon after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center since then and gets a amused expression when considering the ride.
“There might be five minutes thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he says. “And then the very next instant you consider: ‘Well, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
The CTO had success at Renault in Alonso's title-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in command of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the challenge of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a factory team sponsored by the parent company, General Motors, into F1.
“Establishing an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you don’t get the possibility to change cultural approach.”
With each day that goes by minds are more focused on the impending moment of truth in the Australian GP and goals are being handled.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the team had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we should be there,” he says. “So we show up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team executing the proper actions on the track. After we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on improvement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Drive
In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in performing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Bottas echoed the mood of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he said. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. I am confident with this structure, with this team, these people, there is every reason that we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in top gear, with staff now up to over 400 and planned to attain the target of 600 members rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the team are in the midst of building an HQ at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to build the 2029 engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, different from the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Chester referred to.
Apollo Model
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British GP in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we understand how tough it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all working on distinct elements of the project in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where someone has a problem and they escalate it to their team leader, that supervisor talks to a manager somewhere else, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes Nick Chester. “So we empower people to handle things directly. Avoiding management approval for everything is much smoother and faster.”
The Future
The success of this nimble approach will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a significant degree at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta
