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Just over twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last given the official approval as the world of Formula One's newest participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the organization from the ground up has required a hectic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on Vegas this weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.

The Countdown to Australia

At the final race of the season to be staged in the United States, with around a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Australia at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are aware there will never be adequate time.

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

“There might be a brief moment looking back at what you’ve done and go: ‘Incredible, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “And then the next minute you realize: ‘Well, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”

A One-of-a-Kind Challenge

Nick Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in command of technical development at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has quite compared with the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored by the corporate entity, General Motors, into F1.

“Creating an Formula One team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you don’t get the opportunity to transform team culture.”

With every day that elapses minds are increasingly concentrated on the impending moment of truth in Australia and expectations are being set realistically.

“One must presume that a brand-new squad coming in is likely to start at the back but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon noted this year and while Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the organization had a reputation to build as well.

“Our primary goal we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we turn up and we operate well. We want to show that we are a serious contender executing the proper actions on the circuit. Once we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we want to show improvement from there on.”

Pilot Selection and Team Building Effort

In August they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the sharp end in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, and Bottas reflected the attitude of determined optimism.

“Naturally, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a massive task to do, and it will likely be most likely a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to finish last. In my view given this organization, with this team, these people, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”

To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in top gear, with staff now at in excess of 400 and intended to reach the goal of 600 members swiftly. Complementing their present headquarters at Silverstone, the squad are in the phase of completing an headquarters at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to build the new engine, set for 2029 – until then they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, different from the direction in the sport for more centralization, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred.

Apollo Inspiration

“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked the team principal ahead of the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We’re realistic, we recognize how tough it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”

So they have embraced, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a range of specialist groups all working on different aspects of the mission in a different facilities.

“If you have to go through a protocol where a challenge emerges and they escalate it to their team leader, that leader communicates with a leader in another department, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” says the CTO. “So we empower staff to take charge. Eliminating management approval for all decisions is much smoother and faster.”

What Lies Ahead

The effectiveness of this agile strategy will be proven in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a considerable amount on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta