A little more than a full year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately awarded the green light as the world of Formula One's latest participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from nothing has required a hectic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One converges on the Vegas strip this race weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the season to be staged in the US, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic team in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and has a amused expression when thinking about the experience.
“There might be a brief moment looking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he says. “But then the following moment you think: ‘Well, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical development at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the challenge of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a works entry supported by the corporate entity, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an grand prix team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you won't have the opportunity to transform organizational mindset.”
With every day that elapses focus are more focused on the approaching decisive point in Melbourne and expectations are being set realistically.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon commented recently and while Chester echoed this he felt the squad had a point to prove as well.
“The first thing we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “So that we show up and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that this is a professional operation doing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on improvement after that.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive
In August they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for the 2026 season, a duo notable for their priceless expertise in performing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver echoed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to finish last. I believe with this setup, with this team, this staff, it's entirely possible we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To that end recruitment has been in overdrive, with staff now up to in excess of 400 and planned to reach the goal of 600 rapidly. Complementing their present headquarters at Silverstone, the organization are in the process of completing an HQ at Fishers in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to manufacture the 2029 engine, planned for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organization, contrary to the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred.
Space Mission Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We’re realistic, we understand how tough it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, rather than the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the mission at a variety of locations.
“When you must follow a process where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader consults a supervisor in another department, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” explains Nick Chester. “So we empower team members to handle things directly. Moving away from managerial sign-off for each action is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible strategy will be proven in the heat of competition next season and there is a significant degree on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the emerging American Colton Herta
