Approximately twelve months ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the green light as F1's latest participant for 2026. Constructing the squad from scratch has entailed a hectic operating tempo that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the final race of the season to be held in the America, with around three months to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed project in March 2023 not long after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and has a wry smile when considering the journey.
“There might be five minutes thinking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Wow, what an achievement what we have built in a short three-year period,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you consider: ‘Well, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious seasons of the mid-2000s and was in command of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an Formula One team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you don’t get the possibility to change cultural approach.”
With every day that elapses minds are more focused on the approaching moment of truth in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“You have to assume that any new team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon stated this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the team had a reputation to build as well.
“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he says. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We want to show that this is a professional operation doing the proper actions on the race track. Once we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on forward movement from there on.”
Driver Lineup and Team Building Drive
In late summer they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their racers for the 2026 season, a duo distinguished for their priceless expertise in performing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the mood of combative optimism.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he said. “We have a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I believe with this setup, with this group, these personnel, there is every reason that we won't be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and achieve good results.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in overdrive, with employees now at more than 400 and intended to attain the target of 600 quickly. Alongside their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the midst of finishing an HQ at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the center to manufacture the power unit, scheduled for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a sophisticated structure, different from the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Inspiration
“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” said Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how challenging it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all focusing on distinct elements of the project in 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 at a different location, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to staff to really get on with it. Moving away from hierarchical consent for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
The Future
The effectiveness of this agile approach will be proven in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
