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A little more than twelve months in the past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last granted the official approval as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for the 2026 season. Building the organization from scratch has entailed a frenetic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 converges on Vegas this weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.

The Countdown to Australia

At the last event of the season to be hosted in the America, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the first time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.

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

“There might be a brief moment looking back at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Incredible, how impressive what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” Chester states. “Then the very next instant you realize: ‘Yeah, we still have a great deal to do.’”

A Unique Challenge

The CTO had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in command of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes electric racing team, but no other project has been quite like the task of introducing the all-American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into F1.

“Building an Formula One team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an established team you rarely get the opportunity to change team culture.”

With each day that elapses thoughts are sharper on the impending moment of truth in Melbourne and expectations are being handled.

“You have to assume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is going to be last but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon noted this year and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he believed the squad had a reputation to build as well.

“The initial objective we want to show is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So that we turn up and we operate well. We want to show that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the circuit. Once we prove that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate improvement from there on.”

Pilot Selection and Recruitment Push

In August they signed Checo Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their vast knowledge in operating at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Bottas expressed the attitude of determined optimism.

“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a tough opening, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to stay at the back. In my view given this organization, with these individuals, this staff, it's entirely possible we won't be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”

To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with staff now at more than 400 and scheduled to hit the target of 600 quickly. Complementing their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the organization are in the phase of completing an HQ at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are constructing the facility to build the 2029 engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will run Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate structure, contrary to the trend in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO alluded.

Apollo Model

“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” stated Lowdon ahead of the British Grand Prix in the summer. “We’re realistic, we recognize how challenging it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”

So they have embraced, instead of the traditional management structure, a decentralized management comparable to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all working on different aspects of the program in a variety of locations.

“When you must follow a protocol where an issue arises and they report it to their supervisor, that supervisor consults a manager in another department, it is relayed back, it’s super slow,” says the CTO. “Therefore we enable team members to take charge. Moving away from managerial sign-off for each action is much smoother and more rapid.”

Upcoming Challenges

The effectiveness of this nimble methodology will be tested in the pressure of racing next season and there is a considerable amount riding on this for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the young Californian Colton Herta