Just over twelve months in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last awarded the official approval as Formula One’s newest entrant for 2026. Constructing the squad from scratch has entailed a hectic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport arrives on Vegas this weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the championship to be hosted in the America, with around three months to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project 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 technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic project in the spring of 2023 not long after it was formed, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center since then and enjoys a wry smile when considering the ride.
“There might be a short period thinking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Yeah, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
Chester had success at Renault in Alonso's victorious seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical development at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has truly matched the challenge of bringing the all-American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Creating an Formula One team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you rarely get the possibility to alter team culture.”
With every day that passes thoughts are sharper on the impending decisive point in the Australian GP and goals are being managed.
“One must presume that any new team joining the grid is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal noted this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he says. “So that we show up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we’re a proper team executing the right things on the circuit. After we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate improvement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Drive
In the summer they signed Checo Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in performing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Bottas echoed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We have a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a difficult start, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident with this structure, with this team, these people, there is every reason that we can't manage to advance swiftly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To that end hiring has been in overdrive, with personnel now reaching over 400 and scheduled to hit the target of 600 members rapidly. In addition to their present headquarters at Silverstone, the team are in the phase of completing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are building the plant to manufacture the new engine, set for 2029 – until then they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, different from the trend in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Blueprint
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” said Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the mission across a multiple sites.
“If you have to go through a procedure where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their team leader, that leader consults a leader somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” explains Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to really get on with it. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is so much cleaner and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount riding on this for the sport, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the young Californian Colton Herta
