Approximately a full year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's most recent participant for 2026. Building the team from nothing has entailed a frenetic operating tempo that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the championship to be hosted in the US, with approximately 100 days to go before they hit the circuit 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 endeavor, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the nascent team in March 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart from that point and enjoys a wry smile when considering the journey.
“You might get a brief moment thinking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in less than three years,’” Chester states. “And then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Nick Chester had success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in command of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the task of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the parent company, GM, into F1.
“Establishing an F1 team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you don’t get the chance to transform team culture.”
With each passing day that passes minds are increasingly concentrated on the approaching decisive point in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“One must presume that any new team coming in is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented earlier this year and while the CTO shared this view he believed the team had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we should be there,” he says. “In order that we turn up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender doing the proper actions on the race track. When we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we want to show forward movement subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Effort
In the summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their racers for 2026, a pair notable for their invaluable experience in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Bottas reflected the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We face a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a difficult start, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. In my view with this setup, with this group, these people, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and taste victory.”
To that end hiring has been in full swing, with personnel now up to over 400 and intended to reach the target of 600 swiftly. Complementing their existing facility at Silverstone, the organization are in the process of building an HQ at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to build the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – for now they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a intricate structure, contrary to the direction in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred.
Apollo Model
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” said Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We’re realistic, we understand how tough it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of project teams all working on various components of the project at a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they report it to their manager, that leader consults a supervisor in another department, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” explains Nick Chester. “We give authority to staff to really get on with it. Eliminating managerial sign-off for everything is much smoother and faster.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this flexible strategy will be tested in the heat of competition next season and there is a considerable amount riding on this for Formula One, too. Cadillac have recruited as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
