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Approximately one year previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the go-ahead as Formula One’s newest entry for the 2026 season. Building the squad from nothing has required a hectic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.

The Race Against Time to Melbourne

At the final race of the championship to be staged in the United States, with approximately three months to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are aware there will never be sufficient time.

The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the newly formed project in early 2023 soon after it was established, when the organization were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart from that point and enjoys a wry smile when thinking about the ride.

“There might be a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Yes, there is still quite a lot to do.’”

A Unique Opportunity

Nick Chester enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of technical development at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the mission of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a factory team backed by the parent company, GM, into F1.

“Building an grand prix team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you rarely get the opportunity to alter cultural approach.”

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

“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon noted earlier this year and while Chester echoed this he felt the organization had a reputation to build as well.

“Our primary goal we want to show is that we should be there,” he says. “So we turn up and we perform competently. We want to show that we are a serious contender executing the proper actions on the race track. After we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate forward movement subsequently.”

Racing Talent and Hiring Push

In late summer they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a duo notable for their invaluable experience in competing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas reflected the attitude of determined optimism.

“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We face a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to finish last. I believe given this organization, with this team, this staff, there’s no reason why we won't be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and taste victory.”

To realize that ambition recruitment has been in overdrive, with personnel now up to over 400 and intended to hit the objective of 600 swiftly. In addition to their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the process of finishing an main base at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are building the facility to produce the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – for now they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a complex organization, at odds with the direction in F1 for more centralization, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred.

Space Mission Blueprint

“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” remarked the team principal shortly before the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We’re realistic, we recognize how challenging it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”

So they have implemented, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all focusing on different aspects of the project across a multiple sites.

“In a system where you follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their supervisor, that leader talks to a leader in another department, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” explains the CTO. “Therefore we enable people to really get on with it. Avoiding hierarchical consent for all decisions is so much cleaner and faster.”

What Lies Ahead

The success of this agile approach will be tested in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a significant degree on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their development driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta