Approximately one year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the go-ahead as F1's newest entrant for 2026. Constructing the team from scratch has involved a intense operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be hosted in the United States, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent team in the spring of 2023 soon after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center since then and enjoys a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.
“You might get a brief moment reflecting at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “But then the very next instant you realize: ‘Well, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious seasons of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of launching the all-American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the owner, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an grand prix team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you don’t get the possibility to change organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that elapses minds are sharper on the approaching moment of truth in Australia and goals are being managed.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal stated this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he thought the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team performing the right things on the race track. When we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Push
In late summer they signed Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a pair remarkable for their priceless expertise in competing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas expressed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We face a massive task to do, and we expect probably a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I am confident with this structure, with this group, these people, there is every reason that we can't manage to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with personnel now at more than 400 and planned to attain the goal of 600 members rapidly. Complementing their existing facility at the UK base, the organization are in the midst of finishing an HQ at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to build the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester referred to.
Apollo Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we understand how tough it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, rather than the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of project teams all focusing on various components of the project at a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a process where someone has a problem and they report it to their supervisor, that manager talks to a supervisor somewhere else, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” explains Nick Chester. “We give authority to staff to take charge. Avoiding managerial sign-off for everything is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this nimble methodology will be evaluated in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their development driver the young American Colton Herta
