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Approximately twelve months previously at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were finally granted the official approval as the world of Formula One's newest participant for 2026. Building the team from the ground up has required a hectic operating tempo that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the NASA lunar mission. As F1 arrives on Vegas this weekend, the team understand the deadline is approaching.

The Race Against Time to Melbourne

At the final race of the campaign to be held in the US, with just over a hundred days to go before they hit the circuit for the inaugural time in Australia at the first race of 2026, the Cadillac F1 project have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a monumental task, they are conscious there will never be adequate time.

The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the nascent operation in March 2023 not long after it was created, when the team were without even an approved entry. He has been at its center ever since and has a knowing grin when reflecting on the ride.

“You might get a brief moment looking back at what you have accomplished and go: ‘Incredible, what an achievement what we have built in under three years,’” he says. “Then the following moment you realize: ‘Yeah, we still have a significant amount to do.’”

A Unique Challenge

The CTO had success at Renault in the driver Fernando Alonso's title-winning years of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but no previous experience has been quite like the mission of introducing the all-American Cadillac marque, a factory team sponsored by the corporate entity, GM, into the pinnacle of motorsport.

“Creating an F1 team from the ground up, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an existing team you rarely get the opportunity to change cultural approach.”

With each day that elapses thoughts are more focused on the looming moment of truth in Melbourne and targets are being handled.

“One must presume that a brand-new squad joining the grid is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an achievement in itself,” the team principal commented recently and while the CTO echoed this he felt the squad had a statement to make as well.

“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we deserve to be there,” he emphasizes. “So we arrive and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we’re a proper team executing the proper actions on the track. After we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on improvement from there on.”

Pilot Selection and Hiring Effort

In August they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their racers for the 2026 season, a duo distinguished for their invaluable experience in performing at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the attitude of combative optimism.

“Of course, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We have a massive task to do, and we expect most likely a tough opening, because it's the top level of motorsport. But our goal isn't to finish last. I am confident given this organization, with these individuals, this staff, there is every reason that we won't be able to progress rapidly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”

To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in top gear, with personnel now at more than 400 and planned to reach the target of 600 quickly. In addition to their current base at Silverstone, the team are in the midst of completing an headquarters at Fishers in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant 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 Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated organization, at odds with the trend in the sport for greater centralisation, and has led to the innovative team culture to which the CTO alluded.

Space Mission Model

“We've drawn heavily from the NASA moon mission,” said Graeme Lowdon just before the Silverstone race in the summer. “We’re realistic, we understand how challenging it is. The deadlines, they’re super, super, super short. OK, we’re not putting a man on the moon, but it can seem that way.”

So they have implemented, instead of the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a range of specialist groups all tackling different aspects of the project across a variety of locations.

“In a system where you follow a process where an issue arises and they escalate it to their supervisor, that leader talks to a leader in another department, it travels back down, it’s super slow,” explains the CTO. “So we empower people to really get on with it. Moving away from management approval for each action is far more efficient 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 considerable amount riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have taken on as their test driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta