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Approximately twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the green light as F1's latest participant for 2026. Building the organization from nothing has required a frenetic pace of work that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One converges on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.

The Tight Timeline to Melbourne

At the last event of the campaign to be held in the United States, with approximately a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.

The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, joined the embryonic team in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the squad were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core ever since and has a wry smile when reflecting on the experience.

“There might be a brief moment reflecting at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Amazing, how impressive what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yes, we still have a great deal to do.’”

A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity

The CTO had success at the Renault team in Alonso's championship-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in control of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has been quite like the mission of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac marque, a works entry sponsored by the owner, GM, into Formula One.

“Building an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you rarely get the opportunity to change organizational mindset.”

With each day that goes by minds are more focused on the approaching decisive point in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.

“You have to assume that a brand-new squad entering the sport is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon commented earlier this year and while Chester shared this view he felt the organization had a statement to make as well.

“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” Chester explains. “So that we arrive and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the circuit. Once we prove that we’re really credible, then we want to show forward movement from there on.”

Racing Talent and Recruitment Effort

In the summer they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo remarkable for their priceless expertise in performing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of determined optimism.

“Of course, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “We have a mountain of work to do, and we expect probably a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident given this organization, with this group, these people, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to the front and achieve good results.”

To realize that ambition recruitment has been in overdrive, with staff now reaching in excess of 400 and planned to attain the goal of 600 members swiftly. Complementing their existing facility at the UK base, the organization are in the midst of finishing an main base at Fishers in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to produce the new engine, scheduled for 2029 – for now they will use power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne. It is a intricate organisation, different from the trend in F1 for increased consolidation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred.

Space Mission Inspiration

“It's closely based on the NASA moon mission,” stated Lowdon ahead of the British GP in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we know how difficult it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”

So they have adopted, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of specialist groups all working on different aspects of the project across a different facilities.

“If you have to go through a protocol where an issue arises and they escalate it to their team leader, that manager consults a supervisor at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” explains the CTO. “Therefore we enable staff to take charge. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is much smoother and quicker.”

What Lies Ahead

The success of this nimble approach will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is a significant degree on the line for Formula One, too. Cadillac have taken on as their test driver the young Californian Colton Herta