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Just over twelve months in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were at last given the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the squad from nothing has involved a intense pace of work that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 descends on Las Vegas this weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.

The Race Against Time to Melbourne

At the season finale of the championship to be hosted in the America, with just over 100 days to go before they hit the circuit for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending endeavor, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.

The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the nascent project in early 2023 not long after it was created, when the squad were without even an approved entry. He has been at its heart ever since and gets a amused expression when considering the journey.

“There might be a brief moment reflecting at what you’ve done and say: ‘Wow, what an achievement what the team has created in under three years,’” he says. “But then the very next instant you consider: ‘Well, we still have a significant amount to do.’”

A Unique Opportunity

Chester had success at the Renault team in the driver Fernando Alonso's victorious seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical direction at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no other project has been quite like the mission of bringing the quintessentially American Cadillac brand, a factory team sponsored by the parent company, General Motors, into F1.

“Building an Formula One team from nothing, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he says. “There's nothing comparable. In an existing team you rarely get the possibility to transform team culture.”

With every day that elapses thoughts are more focused on the impending critical moment in Australia and targets are being managed.

“One must presume that any new team entering the sport is going to be last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon stated earlier this year and while Nick Chester echoed this he believed the squad had a reputation to build as well.

“The first thing we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we function efficiently. We aim to demonstrate that we’re a proper team performing the right things on the track. After we have demonstrated that we’re really credible, then we will focus on forward movement after that.”

Racing Talent and Team Building Drive

In August they contracted Sergio Perez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a pair distinguished for their invaluable experience in operating at the leading positions in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and the Finnish driver echoed the attitude of fighting spirit.

“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he said. “We have a huge amount of work to do, and it will likely be most likely a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But our goal isn't to finish last. In my view with this setup, with these individuals, these people, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to progress rapidly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”

To realize that ambition staff acquisition has been in full swing, with personnel now at more than 400 and planned to attain the target of six hundred rapidly. Alongside their current base at Silverstone, the team are in the process of building an main base at Fishers, Indiana in Indy and there is the GM works in Charlotte, where they are building the plant to manufacture the new engine, planned for 2029 – in the meantime they will operate with power from Ferrari – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a complex organisation, at odds with the trend in F1 for greater centralisation, and has prompted the new cultural approach to which Chester referred to.

Space Mission Blueprint

“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” remarked Graeme Lowdon ahead of the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we recognize how challenging it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Well, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it feels like it sometimes.”

So they have embraced, rather than the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of the space agency's, where there were a variety of project teams all working on various components of the project in a variety of locations.

“When you must follow a protocol where a challenge emerges and they report it to their manager, that leader consults a supervisor in another department, it goes back down the chain, it’s super slow,” notes Nick Chester. “Therefore we enable team members to take charge. Eliminating managerial sign-off for each action is far more efficient and quicker.”

What Lies Ahead

The efficacy of this agile approach will be tested in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is no little amount at stake for F1, too. Cadillac have taken on as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta