Just over a full year previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the green light as the world of Formula One's latest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from scratch has involved a hectic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the championship to be held in the United States, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are aware there will not be sufficient time.
The technical director, 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 heart from that point and has a amused expression when reflecting on the experience.
“There might be a brief moment thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “But then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yeah, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
The CTO had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical development at the recently formed Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has quite compared with the mission of bringing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a factory team supported by the owner, General Motors, into F1.
“Creating an Formula One team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you won't have the opportunity to change cultural approach.”
With each passing day that goes by focus are sharper on the approaching decisive point in Melbourne and targets are being set realistically.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” the team principal noted recently and while Chester shared this view he thought the team had a statement to make as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we show up and we operate well. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation doing the right things on the track. After we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we want to show forward movement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Effort
In the summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a duo distinguished for their priceless expertise in performing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to finish last. In my view with this structure, with this team, these people, there is every reason that we won't be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in full swing, with employees now up to over 400 and intended to hit the goal of 600 swiftly. Alongside their current base at Silverstone, the organization are in the phase of completing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to produce the power unit, set for 2029 – until then they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a complex structure, at odds with the trend in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester referred.
Apollo Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” remarked Graeme Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how difficult it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Well, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of project teams all tackling different aspects of the mission in a multiple sites.
“When you must follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their supervisor, that manager consults a leader at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” says the CTO. “We give authority to team members to really get on with it. Avoiding management approval for each action is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile strategy will be tested in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a considerable amount on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
