Approximately twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the go-ahead as F1's latest entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from scratch has required a hectic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One descends on the Vegas strip this race weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the season finale of the championship to be hosted in the US, with approximately three months to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed project in early 2023 soon after it was established, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core ever since and has a wry smile when considering the ride.
“You can have a short period thinking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he notes. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Yes, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Chester achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's victorious campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the task of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors, into F1.
“Establishing an grand prix team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you won't have the opportunity to transform organizational mindset.”
With each day that elapses focus are more focused on the approaching moment of truth in Melbourne and targets are being managed.
“You have to assume that any new team entering the sport is going to be last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon noted this year and while Chester shared this view he felt the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We want to show that we are a serious contender performing the correct procedures on the circuit. When we prove that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate progression from there on.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Drive
In the summer they recruited Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver expressed the mood of combative optimism.
“Of course, we’re realistic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and we expect probably a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I believe with this structure, with these individuals, this staff, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in overdrive, with staff now reaching over 400 and planned to reach the objective of 600 rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the phase of building an main base at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to build the power unit, planned for 2029 – for now they will use Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, contrary to the trend in the sport for greater centralisation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Inspiration
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” stated the team principal just before the Silverstone race in July. “We’re realistic, we understand how difficult it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
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 range of specialist groups all focusing on distinct elements of the project in a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they raise it up to their supervisor, that supervisor communicates with a supervisor somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” explains Nick Chester. “We give authority to staff to handle things directly. Moving away from management approval for everything is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this nimble methodology will be tested in the heat of competition next season and there is a significant degree on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
