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A little more than twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the green light as the world of Formula One's latest entrant for the 2026 season. Building the team from nothing has involved a frenetic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As Formula One converges on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know the clock is ticking.

The Countdown to Melbourne

At the final race of the season to be hosted in the United States, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are cognizant there will not be adequate time.

The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic project in March 2023 not long after it was formed, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its center ever since and enjoys a wry smile when considering the journey.

“You might get a brief moment thinking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Well, we’ve still got a significant amount to do.’”

A One-of-a-Kind Challenge

The CTO had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical development at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the challenge of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the parent company, General Motors Corporation, into F1.

“Creating an F1 team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you don’t get the chance to change organizational mindset.”

With every day that passes focus are increasingly concentrated on the impending critical moment in Melbourne and targets are being handled.

“It's reasonable to expect that any incoming team coming in is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Nick Chester shared this view he believed the squad had a point to prove as well.

“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” Chester explains. “So we turn up and we operate well. We want to show that we are a serious contender performing the correct procedures on the track. When we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we will focus on progression subsequently.”

Driver Lineup and Hiring Push

In August they signed Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a tandem remarkable for their vast knowledge in performing at the front in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas echoed the attitude of fighting spirit.

“Of course, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to finish last. In my view given this organization, with this team, these people, it's entirely possible we won't be able to advance swiftly to the front and taste victory.”

To that end staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with employees now up to more than 400 and intended to hit the goal of 600 members quickly. Complementing their present headquarters at the UK base, the squad are in the midst of completing an main base at Fishers in Indy and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the plant to produce the power unit, planned for 2029 – until then they will run power from Ferrari – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organisation, at odds with the trend in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which Chester alluded.

Space Mission Model

“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how tough it is. The timelines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”

So they have adopted, instead of 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 project at a variety of locations.

“If you have to go through a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their manager, that manager talks to a leader at a different location, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” explains Chester. “So we empower staff to take charge. Moving away from hierarchical consent for each action is much smoother and quicker.”

Upcoming Challenges

The effectiveness of this agile methodology will be evaluated in the pressure of racing next season and there is a considerable amount on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their test driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta