A little more than twelve months ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately awarded the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from scratch has entailed a hectic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As the sport arrives on Vegas this race weekend, the team understand time is getting tight.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the season finale of the season to be hosted in the United States, with around 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are aware there will never be adequate time.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic team in March 2023 soon after it was established, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its core from that point and gets a knowing grin when thinking about the experience.
“You can have a short period looking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he notes. “And then the next minute you think: ‘Well, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Task
The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in command of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a factory team sponsored by the owner, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Establishing an grand prix team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you don’t get the chance to change organizational mindset.”
With every day that passes focus are more focused on the looming critical moment in Australia and targets are being managed.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” Lowdon commented recently and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the team had a point to prove as well.
“The initial objective we want to show is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So we arrive and we perform competently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation doing the proper actions on the circuit. When we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”
Driver Lineup and Hiring Push
In late summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for the 2026 season, a pair notable for their invaluable experience in operating at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the sentiment of combative optimism.
“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I am confident with this structure, with these individuals, these personnel, it's entirely possible we can't manage to progress rapidly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal recruitment has been in top gear, with staff now up to in excess of 400 and intended to attain the goal of 600 swiftly. In addition to their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the midst of finishing an HQ at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to manufacture the new engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will use Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated structure, at odds with the direction in the sport for increased consolidation, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred.
Space Mission Model
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” stated Graeme Lowdon just before the British GP in July. “We are pragmatic, we know how challenging it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have implemented, instead of the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all focusing on different aspects of the project across a different facilities.
“If you have to go through a procedure where an issue arises and they escalate it to their supervisor, that manager communicates with a leader somewhere else, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” explains the CTO. “We give authority to staff to really get on with it. Eliminating managerial sign-off for everything is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this nimble methodology will be proven in the pressure of racing next season and there is no little amount at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta
