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Just over one year previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally given the go-ahead as Formula One’s latest entrant for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from nothing has involved a frenetic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware time is getting tight.

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 Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.

The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent project in March 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart since then and enjoys a wry smile when thinking about the journey.

“You might get a brief moment reflecting at what you’ve done and think: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “Then the very next instant you think: ‘Well, there is still a great deal to do.’”

A Unique Task

Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s victorious years of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has truly matched the task of introducing the all-American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, GM, into Formula One.

“Creating an Formula One team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you won't have the possibility to alter organizational mindset.”

With each day that goes by thoughts are more focused on the approaching moment of truth in Australia and goals are being managed.

“You have to assume that any incoming team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he believed the squad had a reputation to build as well.

“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we show up and we function efficiently. We seek to prove that this is a professional operation executing the correct procedures on the track. After we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on forward movement from there on.”

Driver Lineup and Recruitment Drive

In the summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their racers for 2026, a tandem distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the attitude of combative optimism.

“Of course, we’re realistic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be probably a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But we aren't joining to stay at the back. I am confident with this setup, with this team, these personnel, it's entirely possible we won't be able to get relatively quickly to a competitive level and taste victory.”

To that end recruitment has been in overdrive, with staff now at more than 400 and planned to reach the goal of 600 quickly. In addition to their current base at Silverstone, the squad are in the midst of completing an main base at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the facility to manufacture the 2029 engine, set for 2029 – for now they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a complex structure, contrary to the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has led to the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred.

NASA Blueprint

“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” stated Lowdon just before the British GP in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we understand how difficult 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 traditional management structure, a flat management structure similar to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all focusing on different aspects of the program across a variety of locations.

“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they raise it up to their team leader, that manager consults a manager at a different location, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” says Nick Chester. “We give authority to staff to really get on with it. Avoiding managerial sign-off for everything is far more efficient and more rapid.”

The Future

The effectiveness of this flexible approach will be evaluated in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their test driver the 25-year-old American Colton Herta