Approximately one year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last granted the green light as F1's most recent participant for the 2026 season. Building the organization from the ground up has involved a hectic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As Formula One descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team know time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be hosted in the US, with approximately 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are conscious there will never be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed team in early 2023 not long after it was formed, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the experience.
“You might get five minutes thinking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in under three years,’” he notes. “And then the very next instant you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a significant amount to do.’”
An Unprecedented Opportunity
The CTO achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical development at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has truly matched the task of bringing the all-American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the parent company, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Establishing an Formula One team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you won't have the opportunity to alter organizational mindset.”
With every day that elapses minds are sharper on the looming critical moment in Australia and expectations are being set realistically.
“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon commented this year and while the CTO shared this view he thought the team had a point to prove as well.
“Our primary goal we want to show is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So that we arrive and we operate well. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation executing the correct procedures on the race track. When we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate progression subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Drive
In late summer they recruited Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their pilots for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their priceless expertise in performing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the attitude of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and we expect most likely a tough opening, because it is F1. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I believe given this organization, with these individuals, these people, there’s no reason why we won't be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To that end hiring has been in overdrive, with staff now up to in excess of 400 and intended to reach the target of 600 swiftly. In addition to their present headquarters at the UK base, the organization are in the phase of building an main base at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to build the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – for now they will use power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a sophisticated structure, contrary to the direction in the sport for more centralization, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which Nick Chester alluded.
NASA Blueprint
“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in July. “We are pragmatic, we know how difficult it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management akin to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all tackling distinct elements of the mission across a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a protocol where someone has a problem and they report it to their supervisor, that supervisor communicates with a supervisor in another department, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes the CTO. “Therefore we enable staff to really get on with it. Moving away from hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”
Upcoming Challenges
The efficacy of this agile strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta
