Approximately twelve months previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the official approval as Formula One’s latest entry for 2026. Establishing the squad from scratch has required a intense work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be held in the United States, with just over three months to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are cognizant there will not be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed project in the spring of 2023 soon after it was formed, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its core from that point and enjoys a wry smile when reflecting on the journey.
“You might get five minutes reflecting at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in less than three years,’” he says. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a great deal to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has been quite like the mission of launching the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an F1 team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you rarely get the opportunity to transform team culture.”
With each day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the looming decisive point in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any new team coming in is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he felt the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we function efficiently. We want to show that this is a professional operation doing the right things on the track. Once we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we want to show improvement from there on.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Push
In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a pair notable for their priceless expertise in operating at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Bottas reflected the mood of determined optimism.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We have a mountain of work to do, and we expect probably a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I believe given this organization, with this group, this staff, it's entirely possible we can't manage to advance swiftly to the front and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal hiring has been in full swing, with personnel now at more than 400 and intended to hit the goal of 600 members swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the team are in the process of completing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are building the center to produce the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – for now they will use Ferrari engines – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate structure, different from the movement in F1 for more centralization, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester alluded.
Apollo Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we know how tough it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, instead of the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management akin to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all tackling distinct elements of the project at a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a process where a challenge emerges and they report it to their team leader, that supervisor communicates with a manager in another department, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” says the CTO. “So we empower people to handle things directly. Eliminating managerial sign-off for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
The Future
The success of this nimble strategy will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for F1, too. Cadillac have signed as their development driver the young American Colton Herta
