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Just over twelve months ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were ultimately given the official approval as F1's newest participant for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from the ground up has involved a frenetic work rate that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One descends on Las Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac are aware the deadline is approaching.

The Tight Timeline to Melbourne

At the last event of the campaign to be held in the United States, with around three months to go before they take to the track for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.

The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic operation in the spring of 2023 soon after it was formed, when the organization were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart from that point and enjoys a wry smile when reflecting on the experience.

“There might be a brief moment thinking back at what you’ve done and say: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what the team has created in a short three-year period,’” he notes. “And then the very next instant you realize: ‘Yes, there is still a great deal to do.’”

A Unique Opportunity

The CTO enjoyed success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning seasons of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has been quite like the task of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a manufacturer-backed entry sponsored 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?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you don’t get the opportunity to alter cultural approach.”

With each passing day that elapses thoughts are increasingly concentrated on the looming critical moment in the Australian GP and targets are being set realistically.

“You have to assume that any new team joining the grid is going to be last but merely participating will be an achievement in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while the CTO echoed this he felt the organization had a reputation to build as well.

“The first thing we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he says. “So we show up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we’re a proper team performing the right things on the race track. After we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show progression from there on.”

Racing Talent and Team Building Push

In late summer they contracted Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a pair distinguished for their priceless expertise in competing at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, Red Bull Racing and the Mercedes team, and Bottas expressed the sentiment of determined optimism.

“Of course, we’re realistic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and we expect most likely a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I believe given this organization, with these individuals, these personnel, there is every reason that we won't be able to get relatively quickly up to the pace and taste victory.”

To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in top gear, with personnel now reaching more than 400 and planned to attain the objective of 600 members rapidly. Alongside their present headquarters at the UK base, the team are in the phase of completing an main base at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, where they are constructing the center to manufacture the new engine, set for 2029 – until then they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, at odds with the trend in F1 for more centralization, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred.

Apollo Model

“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” remarked Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how difficult it is. The schedules, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”

So they have adopted, instead of the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of project teams all focusing on different aspects of the mission in a different facilities.

“When you must follow a procedure where an issue arises and they report it to their team leader, that manager talks to a manager at a different location, it travels back down, the process is very slow,” notes Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable staff to take charge. Eliminating management approval for each action is far more efficient and faster.”

What Lies Ahead

The success of this flexible approach will be tested in the pressure of racing in 2026 and there is a considerable amount at stake for F1, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta