Approximately one year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately granted the green light as F1's latest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from scratch has entailed a frenetic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be staged in the United States, with around 100 days to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.
The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent operation in March 2023 shortly after it was created, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center from that point and has a wry smile when thinking about the ride.
“You can have a short period looking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he says. “But then the very next instant you think: ‘Yeah, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Task
The CTO achieved victories at Renault in Alonso's title-winning years of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical development at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has been quite like the task of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a factory team sponsored by the owner, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Creating an F1 team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you won't have the possibility to transform team culture.”
With each passing day that goes by thoughts are more focused on the approaching critical moment in Australia and expectations are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted earlier this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he thought the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we arrive and we perform competently. We want to show that we are a serious contender performing the right things on the track. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement after that.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Drive
In August they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their racers for the 2026 season, a pair distinguished for their vast knowledge in performing at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Bottas expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and we expect most likely a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident with this setup, with this team, this staff, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to the front and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in full swing, with staff now at over 400 and scheduled to attain the target of 600 rapidly. In addition to their present headquarters at the UK base, the squad are in the midst of building an main base at Fishers in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to build the new engine, planned for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will use Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated structure, contrary to the direction in F1 for increased consolidation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which the CTO alluded.
NASA Blueprint
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British GP in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how tough it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a decentralized management similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of project teams all focusing on different aspects of the program at a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their team leader, that manager consults a manager at a different location, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes Chester. “Therefore we enable people to take charge. Moving away from hierarchical consent for everything is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this flexible methodology will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a significant degree riding on this for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
