A little more than one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last granted the official approval as Formula One’s most recent participant for 2026. Establishing the squad from the ground up has involved a frenetic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport converges on Las Vegas this weekend, the team know the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the final race of the campaign to be hosted in the United States, with around a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent operation in early 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core from that point and enjoys a amused expression when reflecting on the journey.
“There might be five minutes looking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Amazing, how impressive what we’ve done in under three years,’” he notes. “But then the very next instant you realize: ‘Yes, there is still a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical development at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the challenge of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the owner, General Motors, into F1.
“Building an grand prix team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you won't have the chance to transform team culture.”
With each passing day that elapses minds are more focused on the impending moment of truth in Australia and targets are being handled.
“One must presume that any new team coming in is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented earlier this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he believed the organization had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “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 race track. After we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show improvement from there on.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Drive
In late summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in performing at the front in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver expressed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “We face a mountain of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident given this organization, with this group, these personnel, there’s no reason why we won't be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in top gear, with staff now at over 400 and intended to attain the objective of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the squad are in the phase of building an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, planned for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, different from the trend in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Chester referred to.
NASA Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British GP in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we understand how challenging it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of specialist groups all tackling different aspects of the project in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where a challenge emerges and they report it to their manager, that supervisor communicates with a supervisor at a different location, it travels back down, it becomes inefficient,” notes Chester. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Moving away from hierarchical consent for each action is much smoother and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The effectiveness of this flexible methodology will be evaluated in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is no little amount at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
