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Approximately one year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last awarded the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's latest entrant for 2026. Building the squad from scratch has required a intense pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One arrives on the Vegas strip this weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.

The Countdown to Australia

At the final race of the championship to be staged in the United States, with just over three months to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are conscious there will not be enough hours in the day.

The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent project in the spring of 2023 not long after it was established, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its core ever since and gets a knowing grin when considering the journey.

“You might get a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” he notes. “Then the very next instant you realize: ‘Yeah, we still have quite a lot to do.’”

A Unique Challenge

Nick Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning seasons of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical development at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the task of launching the all-American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the owner, GM, into Formula One.

“Establishing an F1 team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you don’t get the opportunity to alter team culture.”

With each day that goes by focus are increasingly concentrated on the looming decisive point in Melbourne and targets are being set realistically.

“One must presume that any incoming team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” the team principal stated this year and while Chester shared this view he thought the squad had a point to prove as well.

“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So we turn up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we’re a proper team executing the right things on the circuit. After we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement after that.”

Pilot Selection and Recruitment Effort

In late summer they recruited Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a pair notable for their priceless expertise in competing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of combative optimism.

“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and we expect probably a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I believe with this structure, with this group, this staff, there is every reason that we won't be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”

To that end recruitment has been in overdrive, with personnel now at in excess of 400 and intended to hit the target of 600 members rapidly. In addition to their current base at Silverstone, the organization are in the phase of building an main base at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the plant to produce the power unit, planned for 2029 – until then they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organisation, at odds with the movement in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred to.

Space Mission Model

“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked Graeme Lowdon just before the British Grand Prix in July. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult it is. The timelines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”

So they have embraced, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of Apollo teams all focusing on distinct elements of the project across a variety of locations.

“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their manager, that supervisor consults a supervisor somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” says Chester. “We give authority to staff to really get on with it. Avoiding management approval for all decisions is so much cleaner and quicker.”

What Lies Ahead

The efficacy of this nimble methodology will be tested in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their test driver the young American Colton Herta