Just over one year previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately awarded the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent entry for 2026. Establishing the team from the ground up has required a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be staged in the United States, with approximately a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will never be adequate time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in early 2023 soon after it was created, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center ever since and enjoys a wry smile when considering the ride.
“You can have five minutes reflecting at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Yes, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has truly matched the mission of launching the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry supported by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an grand prix team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you don’t get the opportunity to transform team culture.”
With every day that passes focus are more focused on the impending critical moment in the Australian GP and goals are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any new team joining the grid is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated recently and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we show up and we operate well. We want to show that we’re a proper team performing the proper actions on the track. When we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate improvement from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In the summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a duo remarkable for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Bottas echoed the mood of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We have a mountain of work to do, and we expect most likely a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I believe with this setup, with these individuals, these personnel, there’s no reason why we can't manage to progress rapidly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in overdrive, with staff now reaching in excess of 400 and scheduled to reach the target of six hundred quickly. Alongside their present headquarters at Silverstone, the organization are in the process of building an main base at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are constructing the facility to produce the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a complex organisation, different from the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
NASA Inspiration
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon shortly before the British GP in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we understand how tough it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of project teams all working on various components of the program in a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they report it to their manager, that leader consults a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” explains the CTO. “So we empower team members to really get on with it. Eliminating management approval for each action is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible strategy will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is no little amount at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
