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A little more than a full year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the green light as F1's latest entry for 2026. Building the organization from the ground up has involved a hectic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport arrives on Vegas this weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.

The Tight Timeline to Melbourne

At the last event of the championship to be staged in the US, 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 come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are aware there will never be adequate time.

The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the newly formed project in the spring of 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center since then and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.

“You might get a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he says. “Then the next minute you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still quite a lot to do.’”

A Unique Task

The CTO had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning years of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the task of introducing the all-American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the corporate entity, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.

“Establishing an grand prix 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 won't have the opportunity to transform cultural approach.”

With each day that goes by focus are sharper on the looming critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being managed.

“It's reasonable to expect that a brand-new squad joining the grid is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Chester shared this view he thought the organization had a statement to make as well.

“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We want to show that this is a professional operation doing the correct procedures on the track. After we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we will focus on improvement from there on.”

Driver Lineup and Recruitment Effort

In August they signed Sergio Perez and Valtteri as their racers for 2026, a duo remarkable for their vast knowledge in operating at the leading positions in two championship-winning squads, the Red Bull team and the Mercedes team, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the attitude of determined optimism.

“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We have a mountain of work to do, and we expect most likely a difficult start, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. I believe given this organization, with this team, this staff, there is every reason that we can't manage to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”

To achieve that goal hiring has been in top gear, with staff now at over 400 and planned to hit the objective of 600 members quickly. Complementing their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the midst of completing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are building the plant to build the new engine, planned for 2029 – for now they will run power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate organisation, contrary to the trend in Formula One for increased consolidation, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.

Space Mission Model

“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the British GP in the summer. “We’re realistic, we recognize how challenging it is. The timelines, are extremely compressed. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”

So they have adopted, rather than the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of NASA's, where there were a variety of specialist groups all tackling distinct elements of the program at a multiple sites.

“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their supervisor, that leader talks to a manager somewhere else, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” explains the CTO. “We give authority to staff to really get on with it. Eliminating hierarchical consent for each action is so much cleaner and faster.”

Upcoming Challenges

The effectiveness of this nimble strategy will be evaluated in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a significant degree on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the emerging Californian Colton Herta