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Just over twelve months previously at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last awarded the green light as the world of Formula One's newest participant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from scratch has required a intense operating tempo that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As the sport converges on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac understand the deadline is approaching.

The Countdown to Melbourne

At the final race of the championship to be held in the America, with just over a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are conscious there will never be sufficient time.

The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent project in March 2023 not long after it was established, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core from that point and has a amused expression when reflecting on the ride.

“You can have a short period thinking back at what you have accomplished and think: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you realize: ‘Yeah, we’ve still got a great deal to do.’”

A One-of-a-Kind Challenge

The CTO enjoyed success at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning years of the mid-2000s and was in charge of technical development at the then-new Mercedes Formula E team, but no other project has quite compared with the mission of introducing the iconic American Cadillac marque, a manufacturer-backed entry backed by the corporate entity, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.

“Creating an grand prix team from scratch, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he observes. “There's nothing comparable. In an well-set team you don’t get the chance to alter cultural approach.”

With each passing day that goes by minds are increasingly concentrated on the looming decisive point in the Australian GP and goals are being set realistically.

“One must presume that any new team coming in is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Chester shared this view he felt the organization had a point to prove as well.

“Our primary goal we want to show is that we should be there,” he says. “So we show up and we perform competently. We want to show that we are a serious contender performing the proper actions on the race track. Once we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we aim to demonstrate progression subsequently.”

Pilot Selection and Team Building Drive

In August they recruited Checo Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for the 2026 season, a duo notable for their priceless expertise in operating at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver echoed the sentiment of combative optimism.

“Certainly, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a difficult start, because it is F1. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I am confident given this organization, with this team, these personnel, there is every reason that we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and taste victory.”

To achieve that goal recruitment has been in top gear, with staff now reaching in excess of 400 and planned to attain the target of six hundred swiftly. In addition to their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the process of building an main base at the Fishers location in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the center to manufacture the new engine, set for 2029 – for now they will use power from Ferrari – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organization, contrary to the movement in Formula One for more centralization, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred to.

Space Mission Inspiration

“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo program,” said the team principal ahead of the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how difficult it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. Alright, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but the pressure is comparable.”

So they have implemented, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a flat management structure similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of project teams all focusing on distinct elements of the project at a variety of locations.

“When you must follow a process where an issue arises and they report it to their manager, that supervisor communicates with a supervisor somewhere else, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” says the CTO. “We give authority to team members to handle things directly. Eliminating managerial sign-off for everything is much smoother and faster.”

The Future

The efficacy of this flexible approach will be proven in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is a considerable amount on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their development driver the emerging American Colton Herta