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Just over a full year in the past at the Nevada Grand Prix, Cadillac were at last granted the official approval as the world of Formula One's most recent entrant for the 2026 season. Constructing the team from nothing has involved a frenetic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has equated to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on Vegas this race weekend, the team understand the clock is ticking.

The Race Against Time to Australia

At the final race of the season to be held in the US, with just over three months to go before they make their debut for the inaugural time in Australia at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a monumental challenge, they are cognizant there will never be adequate time.

The technical director, Nick Chester, came aboard the embryonic project in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was established, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its core from that point and enjoys a wry smile when thinking about the ride.

“You might get a brief moment reflecting at what the team has achieved and think: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he notes. “And then the following moment you consider: ‘Well, we still have quite a lot to do.’”

A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity

Chester had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning campaigns of 2005 and 2006 and was in control of technical development at the then-new Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the mission of bringing the iconic American Cadillac name, a works entry backed by the owner, GM, into F1.

“Building an grand prix team from scratch, how often do you get the opportunity to do that?” he observes. “It's unparalleled. In an well-set team you won't have the opportunity to alter team culture.”

With every day that passes thoughts are increasingly concentrated on the looming decisive point in Melbourne and expectations are being set realistically.

“One must presume that any incoming team joining the grid is going to be last but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” Lowdon commented earlier this year and while Chester shared this view he thought the team had a reputation to build as well.

“The first thing we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” he says. “In order that we turn up and we perform competently. We want to show that we are a serious contender executing the correct procedures on the race track. When we’ve shown that we are a legitimate team, then we want to show improvement after that.”

Driver Lineup and Hiring Push

In August they contracted Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo distinguished for their vast knowledge in competing at the sharp end in two top-tier teams, Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the mood of combative optimism.

“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” Bottas stated. “We have a massive task to do, and we expect almost certainly a tough opening, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to stay at the back. In my view given this organization, with these individuals, this staff, there’s no reason why we can't manage to advance swiftly to a competitive level and achieve good results.”

To achieve that goal hiring has been in full swing, with staff now reaching in excess of 400 and scheduled to hit the goal of 600 members quickly. Alongside their existing facility at the Silverstone circuit, the squad are in the midst of completing an headquarters at the Fishers location in Indianapolis and there is the General Motors facility in North Carolina, where they are developing the plant to manufacture the new engine, set for 2029 – until then they will run Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany. It is a intricate organisation, at odds with the movement in F1 for increased consolidation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which the CTO referred to.

Space Mission Model

“It's closely based on the Apollo program,” said the team principal ahead of the Silverstone race in July. “We are pragmatic, we recognize how tough it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. OK, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”

So they have adopted, as opposed to the conventional chain of command, a non-hierarchical approach comparable to that of Nasa’s, where there were a assortment of specialist groups all focusing on different aspects of the program across a variety of locations.

“In a system where you follow a procedure where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that leader communicates with a leader at a different location, it goes back down the chain, the process is very slow,” says the CTO. “So we empower team members to take charge. Moving away from hierarchical consent for everything is much smoother and more rapid.”

What Lies Ahead

The success of this nimble approach will be tested in the heat of competition next season and there is a significant degree on the line for F1, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta