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A little more than a full year ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately awarded the official approval as F1's latest entry for the 2026 season. Building the team from scratch has entailed a frenetic operating tempo that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As the sport descends on Vegas this race weekend, the team know time is getting tight.

The Tight Timeline to Melbourne

At the last event of the campaign to be held in the America, with around 100 days to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Australia at the 2026 opener, the Cadillac F1 project have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean endeavor, they are aware there will not be enough hours in the day.

The CTO, Nick Chester, became part of the embryonic project in early 2023 soon after it was established, when the organization were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its core from that point and has a amused expression when thinking about the journey.

“You can have a brief moment reflecting at what the team has achieved and go: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in under three years,’” Chester states. “And then the very next instant you realize: ‘Yes, there is still quite a lot to do.’”

An Unprecedented Task

The CTO had success at Renault in Alonso's title-winning years of the mid-2000s and was in control of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the mission of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a factory team sponsored by the owner, General Motors Corporation, into F1.

“Establishing an F1 team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you won't have the chance to change cultural approach.”

With each passing day that elapses minds are increasingly concentrated on the approaching critical moment in Australia and goals are being managed.

“You have to assume that a brand-new squad coming in is probably going to finish last but simply getting on to the grid will be an accomplishment in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented this year and while the CTO shared this view he believed the organization had a statement to make as well.

“The initial objective we want to show is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “In order that we arrive and we perform competently. We want to show that this is a professional operation doing the right things on the circuit. Once we’ve shown that our credentials are solid, then we want to show improvement after that.”

Driver Lineup and Team Building Effort

In the summer they signed Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a tandem distinguished for their priceless expertise in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas echoed the sentiment of fighting spirit.

“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” he commented. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. In my view with this structure, with this group, these personnel, it's entirely possible we won't be able to advance swiftly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”

To that end staff acquisition has been in top gear, with personnel now at more than 400 and planned to attain the objective of 600 members rapidly. Complementing their current base at the UK base, the team are in the process of finishing an headquarters at Fishers in Indianapolis and there is the GM works in North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to produce the power unit, scheduled for the 2029 season – for now they will use Ferrari power units – and the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a intricate organisation, contrary to the direction in F1 for increased consolidation, and has led to the fresh organizational mindset to which the CTO referred to.

Apollo Inspiration

“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” remarked Graeme Lowdon ahead of the Silverstone race in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we understand how tough it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Well, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”

So they have embraced, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of NASA's, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all working on various components of the mission across a multiple sites.

“In a system where you follow a protocol where an issue arises and they escalate it to their manager, that supervisor talks to a leader somewhere else, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” notes the CTO. “We give authority to team members to really get on with it. Avoiding hierarchical consent for each action is much smoother and faster.”

Upcoming Challenges

The effectiveness of this nimble methodology will be tested in the heat of competition when the season begins and there is a significant degree on the line for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their reserve driver the emerging American Colton Herta