A little more than one year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately granted the green light as Formula One’s most recent participant for the 2026 season. Building the organization from the ground up has involved a hectic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One descends on Vegas this weekend, the team know the clock is ticking.
The Countdown to Australia
At the last event of the campaign to be hosted in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are conscious there will not be enough hours in the day.
The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in March 2023 not long after it was formed, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core from that point and has a amused expression when considering the experience.
“You can have five minutes looking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he says. “Then the following moment you realize: ‘Yeah, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
The CTO achieved victories at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's championship-winning years of the mid-2000s and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has quite compared with the mission of launching the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a works entry supported by the corporate entity, General Motors Corporation, into F1.
“Establishing an Formula One team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you rarely get the opportunity to alter cultural approach.”
With every day that elapses minds are more focused on the looming critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being managed.
“One must presume that any new team coming in is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated this year and while the CTO shared this view he thought the organization had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” he emphasizes. “In order that we turn up and we operate well. We want to show that we are a serious contender executing the proper actions on the track. Once we prove that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on progression after that.”
Pilot Selection and Recruitment Drive
In the summer they recruited Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their vast knowledge in competing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Bottas expressed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he said. “We face a massive task to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I believe with this structure, with this group, this staff, it's entirely possible we can't manage to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”
To that end recruitment has been in overdrive, with staff now reaching in excess of 400 and planned to attain the objective of six hundred rapidly. In addition to their present headquarters at the UK base, the organization are in the midst of building an headquarters at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to produce the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – for now they will use Ferrari power units – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a sophisticated structure, different from the direction in the sport for greater centralisation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which the CTO alluded.
Apollo Model
“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” stated Graeme Lowdon just before the British GP in July. “We’re realistic, we understand how challenging it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, as opposed to the traditional management structure, a flat management structure comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of specialist groups all focusing on different aspects of the project at a variety of locations.
“If you have to go through a process where a challenge emerges and they report it to their team leader, that supervisor consults a manager in another department, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” says the CTO. “So we empower people to really get on with it. Avoiding management approval for everything is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this flexible strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is a considerable amount at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta
