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Approximately one year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last granted the go-ahead as Formula One’s newest entry for 2026. Constructing the squad from scratch has entailed a hectic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.

The Countdown to Australia

At the final race of the championship to be staged in the America, with just over 100 days to go before they make their debut for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.

The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent team in early 2023 shortly after it was created, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart from that point and enjoys a wry smile when thinking about the experience.

“You might get a brief moment looking back at what you have accomplished and say: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we’ve done in under three years,’” Chester states. “But then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still a great deal to do.’”

A Unique Challenge

Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning years of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the corporate entity, GM, into F1.

“Building an F1 team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you rarely get the possibility to change cultural approach.”

With each passing day that goes by focus are more focused on the looming decisive point in Melbourne and targets are being managed.

“You have to assume that any incoming team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” the team principal stated earlier this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he felt the organization had a statement to make as well.

“The first thing we intend to prove is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So that we show up and we operate well. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team executing the correct procedures on the circuit. After we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we want to show forward movement from there on.”

Driver Lineup and Recruitment Push

In late summer they contracted Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their vast knowledge in operating at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the attitude of determined optimism.

“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he said. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I am confident given this organization, with this group, these people, there’s no reason why we can't manage to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”

To achieve that goal recruitment has been in full swing, with personnel now at in excess of 400 and scheduled to hit the target of 600 swiftly. In addition to their existing facility at the UK base, the squad are in the process of finishing an HQ at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to produce the power unit, planned for the 2029 season – for now they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated structure, contrary to the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which Nick Chester referred.

NASA Model

“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we understand how challenging it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”

So they have embraced, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a decentralized management comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of specialist groups all focusing on distinct elements of the mission at a multiple sites.

“If you have to go through a process where an issue arises and they escalate it to their manager, that supervisor consults a manager somewhere else, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to really get on with it. Moving away from managerial sign-off for each action is much smoother and more rapid.”

What Lies Ahead

The effectiveness of this agile strategy will be proven in the pressure of racing next season and there is a considerable amount riding on this for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta