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A little more than one year ago at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the green light as the world of Formula One's latest entry for 2026. Establishing the team from the ground up has involved a intense work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As Formula One arrives on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac are aware the clock is ticking.

The Countdown to Australia

At the final race of the campaign to be held in the US, with around a hundred days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are conscious there will never be sufficient time.

The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed operation in the spring of 2023 soon after it was created, when the team were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart ever since and enjoys a amused expression when reflecting on the experience.

“You might get five minutes reflecting at what you’ve done and say: ‘Amazing, what an achievement what we’ve done in under three years,’” he notes. “And then the following moment you think: ‘Yeah, we still have a great deal to do.’”

A One-of-a-Kind Task

Nick Chester achieved victories at Renault in Fernando Alonso’s victorious years of 2005/2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has truly matched the challenge of introducing the quintessentially American Cadillac name, a works entry sponsored by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into F1.

“Establishing an F1 team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he observes. “It is like nothing else. In an existing team you won't have the possibility to transform team culture.”

With each day that goes by minds are increasingly concentrated on the looming critical moment in Melbourne and goals are being set realistically.

“One must presume that any new team entering the sport is likely to start at the back but just making it to the starting line will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented this year and while Nick Chester agreed with this sentiment he believed the team had a statement to make as well.

“Our primary goal we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he says. “So we show up and we operate well. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender performing the right things on the track. When we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we aim to demonstrate improvement subsequently.”

Driver Lineup and Hiring Drive

In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their vast knowledge in performing at the front in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and the Mercedes team, and Bottas reflected the attitude of combative optimism.

“Of course, we are pragmatic,” Bottas stated. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a difficult start, because it is F1. But our goal isn't to remain at the rear. I am confident given this organization, with this group, these people, there is every reason that we can't manage to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”

To realize that ambition recruitment has been in top gear, with staff now at in excess of 400 and intended to reach the target of 600 members swiftly. Alongside their existing facility at the UK base, the organization are in the phase of finishing an HQ at the Fishers location in Indy and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the facility to produce the 2029 engine, scheduled for the 2029 season – until then they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate structure, different from the direction in the sport for greater centralisation, and has led to the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester alluded.

Apollo Blueprint

“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in mid-season. “We have a clear-eyed view, we understand how challenging it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. OK, it's not a space expedition, but the pressure is comparable.”

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

“If you have to go through a protocol where someone has a problem and they report it to their team leader, that manager communicates with a manager somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” explains the CTO. “We give authority to staff to take charge. Moving away from hierarchical consent for all decisions is much smoother and quicker.”

The Future

The success of this agile strategy will be tested in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a considerable amount riding on this for F1, too. Cadillac have signed as their reserve driver the young American Colton Herta