A little more than one year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally awarded the green light as F1's latest entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from the ground up has required a hectic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 arrives on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the season finale of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with around a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are conscious there will not be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent team in March 2023 soon after it was created, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its core from that point and gets a wry smile when considering the ride.
“There might be a short period thinking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, how impressive what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “But then the very next instant you think: ‘Yeah, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
Nick Chester had success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has been quite like the challenge of bringing the all-American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the owner, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Building an F1 team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you rarely get the opportunity to alter team culture.”
With each passing day that goes by focus are sharper on the looming decisive point in Australia and goals are being set realistically.
“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad joining the grid is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted earlier this year and while Chester shared this view he thought the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we arrive and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender doing the proper actions on the circuit. Once we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Driver Lineup and Recruitment Drive
In August they recruited Sergio Perez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver echoed the attitude of determined optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We have a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to finish last. In my view with this setup, with this group, these personnel, it's entirely possible we can't manage to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To that end staff acquisition has been in full swing, with employees now reaching in excess of 400 and scheduled to hit the objective of 600 quickly. In addition to their existing facility at Silverstone, the squad are in the midst of completing an main base at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are building the center to manufacture the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – in the meantime they will use Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a complex organization, at odds with the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Chester referred.
Space Mission Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” remarked Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of project teams all tackling different aspects of the program at a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their team leader, that manager consults a manager at a different location, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “Therefore we enable team members to really get on with it. Eliminating management approval for everything is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
The Future
The efficacy of this nimble approach will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix next season and there is a considerable amount at stake for the sport, too. Cadillac have taken on as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta
