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A little more than a full year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the green light as the world of Formula One's newest participant for 2026. Constructing the squad from nothing has entailed a hectic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As Formula One arrives on the Vegas strip this race weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.

The Countdown to Australia

At the final race of the campaign to be staged in the United States, with approximately a hundred days to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are cognizant there will not be sufficient time.

The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed operation in early 2023 shortly after it was created, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its core since then and enjoys a wry smile when considering the journey.

“You can have a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the following moment you think: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got quite a lot to do.’”

A One-of-a-Kind Challenge

Nick Chester had success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has truly matched the task of launching the all-American Cadillac brand, a factory team sponsored by the owner, GM, into F1.

“Creating an Formula One team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you don’t get the chance to alter cultural approach.”

With each day that passes focus are more focused on the looming decisive point in Melbourne and expectations are being managed.

“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad coming in is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal stated earlier this year and while Chester shared this view he thought 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 that we arrive and we perform competently. We aim to demonstrate that we are a serious contender executing the right things on the track. When we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show improvement from there on.”

Driver Lineup and Hiring Push

In August they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo notable for their priceless expertise in performing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver reflected the attitude of determined optimism.

“Of course, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and we expect most likely a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I believe with this setup, with this group, these people, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to get relatively quickly to the front and enjoy some success.”

To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with employees now at over 400 and intended to attain the target of six hundred quickly. In addition to their current base at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the midst of completing an headquarters at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the center to produce the new engine, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will run Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, at odds with the direction in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO alluded.

Space Mission Model

“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon just before the British Grand Prix in July. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how tough it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”

So they have embraced, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of project teams all working on various components of the program in a different facilities.

“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they escalate it to their manager, that leader consults a supervisor in another department, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” explains the CTO. “We give authority to team members to handle things directly. Moving away from management approval for all decisions is far more efficient and more rapid.”

Upcoming Challenges

The effectiveness of this nimble methodology will be proven in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is no little amount riding on this for Formula One, too. Cadillac have signed as their test driver the young Californian Colton Herta