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Just over one year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately granted the official approval as F1's latest entrant for 2026. Constructing the organization from the ground up has involved a hectic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport converges on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.

The Tight Timeline to Melbourne

At the last event of the season to be staged in the US, with approximately a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are cognizant there will never be sufficient time.

The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent team in the spring of 2023 not long after it was established, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a wry smile when reflecting on the ride.

“You can have a brief moment thinking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Amazing, how impressive what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “But then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yes, there is still a significant amount to do.’”

An Unprecedented Challenge

Chester had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious years of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical development at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has truly matched the task of launching the iconic American Cadillac marque, a works entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into F1.

“Creating an F1 team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you won't have the chance to transform organizational mindset.”

With each day that passes thoughts are sharper on the looming critical moment in Australia and expectations are being set realistically.

“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is going to be last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Lowdon noted recently and while Chester shared this view he felt the team had a reputation to build as well.

“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the race track. When we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we want to show improvement from there on.”

Racing Talent and Hiring Drive

In August they recruited Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the mood of fighting spirit.

“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to finish last. I believe with this structure, with this team, these personnel, there is every reason that we won't be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and achieve good results.”

To achieve that goal hiring has been in overdrive, with staff now at over 400 and intended to reach the target of six hundred swiftly. Complementing their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the midst of finishing an HQ at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are constructing the center to manufacture the power unit, planned for the 2029 season – in the meantime they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organisation, contrary to the movement in F1 for increased consolidation, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.

NASA Model

“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” stated the team principal ahead of the British Grand Prix in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how challenging it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”

So they have implemented, instead of the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all tackling various components of the project across a variety of locations.

“In a system where you follow a procedure where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their manager, that leader talks to a manager at a different location, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” says Chester. “So we empower people to take charge. Eliminating management approval for everything is far more efficient and faster.”

What Lies Ahead

The effectiveness of this flexible methodology will be proven in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a significant degree riding on this for F1, too. Cadillac have recruited as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta