Just over one year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last given the go-ahead as F1's newest participant for 2026. Establishing the organization from scratch has entailed a hectic pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One arrives on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the final race of the season to be held in the US, with around a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed team in March 2023 soon after it was formed, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart from that point and has a knowing grin when considering the experience.
“You might get a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Amazing, how impressive what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Yes, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Nick Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical direction at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the mission of bringing the all-American Cadillac marque, a factory team supported by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Building an grand prix team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you don’t get the chance to alter cultural approach.”
With each passing day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the approaching moment of truth in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” the team principal commented earlier this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he thought the organization had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he says. “So we show up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation doing the proper actions on the race track. After we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate improvement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push
In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a pair notable for their vast knowledge in performing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the mood of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident given this organization, with these individuals, this staff, it's entirely possible we can't manage to progress rapidly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To that end recruitment has been in full swing, with employees now up to in excess of 400 and scheduled to hit the goal of six hundred swiftly. Complementing their existing facility at Silverstone, the squad are in the process of building an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are developing the center to manufacture the new engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will use Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred.
Apollo Model
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” said Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in the summer. “We’re realistic, we understand how difficult it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the project in a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their team leader, that manager consults a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes Chester. “So we empower staff to handle things directly. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is so much cleaner and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this nimble strategy will be proven in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is a considerable amount at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
