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A little more than one year ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately granted the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's most recent entry for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from nothing has entailed a intense operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One arrives on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware the clock is ticking.

The Race Against Time to Australia

At the season finale of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with around a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.

The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent project in March 2023 not long after it was created, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core from that point and enjoys a knowing grin when reflecting on the journey.

“You might get a brief moment reflecting at what you’ve done and say: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “And then the very next instant you realize: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”

An Unprecedented Challenge

Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the task of bringing the all-American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the corporate entity, General Motors, into Formula One.

“Establishing an grand prix team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you won't have the chance to transform cultural approach.”

With each day that goes by thoughts are sharper on the approaching decisive point in the Australian GP and expectations are being set realistically.

“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal stated recently and while the CTO echoed this he believed the organization had a reputation to build as well.

“Our primary goal we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we arrive and we function efficiently. We want to show that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the track. Once we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show progression from there on.”

Driver Lineup and Team Building Push

In August they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a pair notable for their invaluable experience in performing at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.

“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he said. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I am confident given this organization, with these individuals, these personnel, there’s no reason why we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and achieve good results.”

To realize that ambition hiring has been in top gear, with employees now up to more than 400 and scheduled to attain the objective of 600 rapidly. In addition to their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the phase of completing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM plant in North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to build the new engine, planned for 2029 – for now they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Germany. It is a intricate organization, contrary to the direction in the sport for more centralization, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which Chester referred to.

Space Mission Model

“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo project,” stated Lowdon just before the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how difficult it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”

So they have adopted, rather than the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management akin to that of NASA's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all working on different aspects of the program across a multiple sites.

“If you have to go through a process where an issue arises and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader consults a leader in another department, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” notes Chester. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Eliminating management approval for each action is much smoother and faster.”

What Lies Ahead

The efficacy of this agile methodology will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta