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Just over a full year ago at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the go-ahead as F1's latest entry for 2026. Building the squad from the ground up has involved a frenetic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As the sport descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac are aware time is getting tight.

The Countdown to Australia

At the season finale of the season to be held in the US, with around 100 days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending task, they are aware there will not be adequate time.

The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic operation in March 2023 shortly after it was established, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart ever since and enjoys a wry smile when thinking about the journey.

“There might be a short period looking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Wow, how impressive what we’ve done in a short three-year period,’” he says. “But then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yeah, there is still a significant amount to do.’”

A Unique Opportunity

Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious campaigns of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical development at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the task of introducing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a factory team sponsored by the parent company, General Motors, into Formula One.

“Building an F1 team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you don’t get the opportunity to change cultural approach.”

With every day that passes focus are increasingly concentrated on the impending decisive point in Australia and expectations are being set realistically.

“You have to assume that any incoming team coming in is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal noted recently and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he thought the team had a point to prove as well.

“Our primary goal we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we arrive and we perform competently. We want to show that this is a professional operation doing the right things on the track. Once we prove that our credentials are solid, then we want to show forward movement from there on.”

Racing Talent and Team Building Drive

In August they contracted Checo Pérez and Bottas as their pilots for 2026, a pair distinguished for their vast knowledge in competing at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes, and the Finnish driver expressed the sentiment of combative optimism.

“Naturally, we’re realistic,” he said. “We have a mountain of work to do, and we expect most likely a challenging beginning, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. I believe with this setup, with this group, these personnel, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and taste victory.”

To achieve that goal hiring has been in full swing, with staff now reaching in excess of 400 and planned to reach the target of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their present headquarters at Silverstone, the squad are in the phase of finishing an main base at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are developing the facility to build the new engine, planned for 2029 – until then they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, at odds with the direction in F1 for more centralization, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.

Space Mission Inspiration

“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” said Lowdon just before the British GP in mid-season. “We are pragmatic, we understand how challenging it is. The schedules, are extremely compressed. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it can seem that way.”

So they have embraced, instead of the conventional chain of command, a flat management structure akin to that of Nasa’s, where there were a range of specialist groups all focusing on various components of the program at a different facilities.

“In a system where you follow a process where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their manager, that leader communicates with a manager in another department, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” notes Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to really get on with it. Avoiding managerial sign-off for all decisions is so much cleaner and quicker.”

The Future

The success of this flexible strategy will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a significant degree at stake for Formula One, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta