Approximately twelve months ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last given the green light as the world of Formula One's newest participant for 2026. Constructing the squad from the ground up has involved a intense operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 descends on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the championship to be staged in the US, with around 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are conscious there will not be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the nascent project in early 2023 soon after it was established, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart since then and has a amused expression when thinking about the journey.
“You can have a short period reflecting at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “But then the following moment you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
Chester had success at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in charge of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has truly matched the task of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an Formula One team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you don’t get the opportunity to alter cultural approach.”
With every day that goes by focus are sharper on the looming moment of truth in the Australian GP and targets are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any incoming team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the team had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So we show up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we’re a proper team executing the correct procedures on the track. After we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Drive
In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their racers for the 2026 season, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver echoed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We face a mountain of work to do, and we expect most likely a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I believe given this organization, with this team, these people, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To realize that ambition recruitment has been in overdrive, with personnel now at more than 400 and planned to reach the goal of 600 members swiftly. Complementing their existing facility at the UK base, the squad are in the phase of building an headquarters at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are constructing the plant to manufacture the power unit, set for the 2029 season – for now they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated structure, different from the trend in the sport for increased consolidation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Chester referred.
NASA Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” said Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we know how difficult it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have adopted, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the program at a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a procedure where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader communicates with a supervisor at a different location, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to people to really get on with it. Eliminating managerial sign-off for all decisions is much smoother and faster.”
The Future
The success of this agile approach will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is a considerable amount at stake for F1, too. Cadillac have taken on as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta
