Approximately one year in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's newest participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from scratch has involved a frenetic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 descends on Las Vegas this weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are conscious there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in March 2023 soon after it was created, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its center since then and enjoys a wry smile when reflecting on the experience.
“You can have a short period reflecting at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” he says. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Yes, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”
A Unique Task
Nick Chester had success at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the task of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a works entry sponsored by the owner, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Establishing an F1 team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you won't have the chance to alter team culture.”
With each day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the impending critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being managed.
“One must presume that any new team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he believed the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “So we show up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the race track. After we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we want to show progression from there on.”
Racing Talent and Recruitment Drive
In the summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a duo notable for their invaluable experience in operating at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Bottas echoed the mood of determined optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be probably a challenging beginning, because it is F1. But we’re not there to finish last. I believe with this setup, with these individuals, these people, there is every reason that we can't manage to get relatively quickly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in top gear, with personnel now up to over 400 and planned to hit the goal of 600 members rapidly. Complementing their existing facility at the UK base, the team are in the phase of finishing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are building the facility to build the 2029 engine, set for the 2029 season – for now they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate structure, at odds with the direction in the sport for increased consolidation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which Chester alluded.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” remarked Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We’re realistic, we understand how tough it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”
So they have adopted, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all focusing on different aspects of the project at a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they report it to their team leader, that supervisor consults a leader at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” says the CTO. “So we empower team members to take charge. Eliminating management approval for each action is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this agile methodology will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is no little amount riding on this for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
