Approximately twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last given the green light as the world of Formula One's latest entrant for the 2026 season. Building the organization from nothing has entailed a intense pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on Vegas this weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be hosted in the America, with around 100 days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed operation in the spring of 2023 not long after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center ever since and gets a wry smile when considering the journey.
“There might be a brief moment thinking back at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “Then the next minute you think: ‘Well, we still have quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity
Chester had success at Renault in Alonso's title-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in control of technical development at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the task of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the corporate entity, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Creating an grand prix team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you won't have the opportunity to alter organizational mindset.”
With each day that passes focus are sharper on the looming moment of truth in the Australian GP and targets are being handled.
“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated this year and while the CTO echoed this he thought the team had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team executing the correct procedures on the race track. When we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Racing Talent and Team Building Push
In the summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a duo remarkable for their priceless expertise in performing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and the Mercedes team, and Bottas expressed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to finish last. I believe given this organization, with this group, these personnel, it's entirely possible we can't manage to progress rapidly to the front and taste victory.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in full swing, with personnel now up to in excess of 400 and planned to attain the target of 600 members rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the phase of building an headquarters at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are building the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will use Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the direction in F1 for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Chester referred to.
Apollo Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we know how challenging it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all working on various components of the program at a variety of locations.
“In a system where you follow a process where a challenge emerges and they raise it up to their manager, that leader talks to a manager in another department, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” notes Chester. “So we empower people to take charge. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is so much cleaner and more rapid.”
The Future
The success of this flexible methodology will be proven in the pressure of racing next season and there is a considerable amount at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta
