Approximately a full year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the green light as F1's newest entry for the 2026 season. Building the team from nothing has involved a intense work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One descends on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Melbourne
At the season finale of the championship to be staged in the United States, with approximately a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are conscious there will not be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic team in early 2023 soon after it was created, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core since then and has a knowing grin when thinking about the ride.
“You can have a brief moment looking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in less than three years,’” he notes. “Then the very next instant you realize: ‘Well, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
Chester had success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of introducing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a factory team sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Creating an F1 team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you rarely get the possibility to transform cultural approach.”
With each passing day that passes thoughts are sharper on the looming moment of truth in the Australian GP and goals are being handled.
“One must presume that any new team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon commented recently and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he thought the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we should be there,” he says. “In order that we turn up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender executing the right things on the track. Once we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on forward movement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Effort
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a duo notable for their vast knowledge in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Bottas reflected the mood of combative optimism.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and we expect probably a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to finish last. I believe with this setup, with these individuals, this staff, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To that end recruitment has been in top gear, with employees now reaching more than 400 and intended to attain the goal of 600 rapidly. Alongside their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the phase of building an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are developing the plant to build the power unit, planned for the 2029 season – until then they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the movement in F1 for more centralization, and has led to the innovative team culture to which the CTO alluded.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” stated the team principal shortly before the British Grand Prix in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a decentralized management similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all working on different aspects of the project across a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their supervisor, that supervisor talks to a supervisor in another department, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” says the CTO. “We give authority to staff to handle things directly. Moving away from hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible methodology will be proven in the heat of competition next season and there is a significant degree on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
