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Approximately a full year in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the official approval as F1's newest entry for 2026. Building the organization from the ground up has required a intense operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 converges on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the deadline is approaching.

The Countdown to Melbourne

At the last event of the season to be staged in the US, with just over three months to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental endeavor, they are aware there will never be adequate time.

The technical director, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent project in the spring of 2023 soon after it was formed, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its center ever since and has a amused expression when reflecting on the journey.

“You can have a brief moment thinking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in under three years,’” he says. “Then the following moment you realize: ‘Yes, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”

A Unique Opportunity

Chester achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in charge of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the mission of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the corporate entity, GM, into Formula One.

“Creating an F1 team from the ground up, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you rarely get the chance to transform team culture.”

With every day that elapses focus are sharper on the impending decisive point in the Australian GP and targets are being set realistically.

“One must presume that any incoming team joining the grid is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he thought the squad had a point to prove as well.

“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We want to show that we are a serious contender doing the right things on the track. When we prove that we’re really credible, then we aim to demonstrate progression from there on.”

Driver Lineup and Recruitment Drive

In late summer they recruited Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for 2026, a duo notable for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and the Finnish driver expressed the sentiment of determined optimism.

“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he said. “We have a mountain of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to finish last. I believe with this structure, with this team, these personnel, there is every reason that we can't manage to progress rapidly to a competitive level and taste victory.”

To realize that ambition recruitment has been in full swing, with employees now reaching in excess of 400 and scheduled to hit the objective of six hundred rapidly. Alongside their present headquarters at Silverstone, the organization are in the process of completing an main base at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the plant to produce the new engine, set for 2029 – until then they will operate with Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organisation, at odds with the direction in the sport for increased consolidation, and has inspired the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester referred.

Apollo Inspiration

“We've drawn heavily from the Apollo program,” remarked Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how challenging it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”

So they have embraced, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a variety of Apollo teams all focusing on distinct elements of the mission in a different facilities.

“If you have to go through a protocol where an issue arises and they report it to their supervisor, that manager talks to a leader in another department, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” explains the CTO. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Avoiding management approval for everything is so much cleaner and quicker.”

What Lies Ahead

The effectiveness of this agile approach will be tested in the heat of competition next season and there is a considerable amount on the line for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta