A little more than twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the go-ahead as Formula One’s latest entry for 2026. Constructing the organization from scratch has entailed a intense work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One arrives on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be staged in the America, with just over three months to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are conscious there will not be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent project in March 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center ever since and gets a wry smile when reflecting on the journey.
“There might be five minutes looking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “And then the next minute you realize: ‘Yes, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A Unique Challenge
The CTO achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical direction at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a works entry supported by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Establishing an Formula One team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you won't have the possibility to change team culture.”
With each passing day that goes by minds are more focused on the looming decisive point in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon commented recently and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the team had a statement to make as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we show up and we operate well. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team doing the correct procedures on the track. When we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we want to show improvement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Push
In August they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their invaluable experience in operating at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he commented. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to finish last. In my view with this structure, with this team, these personnel, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and taste victory.”
To that end hiring has been in full swing, with employees now at over 400 and planned to reach the objective of six hundred rapidly. In addition to their present headquarters at the UK base, the squad are in the phase of finishing an headquarters at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are constructing the center to build the power unit, set for 2029 – until then they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, contrary to the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred to.
NASA Model
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in the summer. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how tough it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, instead of the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of project teams all tackling different aspects of the program across a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a protocol where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their manager, that leader communicates with a leader in another department, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” explains Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable people to take charge. Moving away from hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and quicker.”
Upcoming Challenges
The effectiveness of this agile strategy will be evaluated in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta
