As Formula 1's first expansion team in a decade, Cadillac is very much up against it to take on F1's establishment when its veteran race winners Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez join the grid in March.
Following an intense recruitment spree for its bases in Silverstone and North America, which the team says yielded over 140,000 job applications for around 600 positions, the organisation co-owned by General Motors has had to put together a brand-new F1 squad at breakneck speed.
So far Cadillac has nailed all its deadlines, and while 2026 will likely become a baptism of fire for F1's 11th team, Graeme Lowdon hopes his focus on building a cohesive squad with the right values will pay off in the long term.
Graeme, obviously it's been a very busy, nerve-wracking couple of weeks for you. I imagine you're not getting a lot of sleep these days?
Graeme Lowdon: "No, no. I didn't have a grey hair on my head when I started this project and I'm well on the way now! But it pales into insignificance compared to the late nights and the all-nighters that everyone in the team is doing, so I'm happy to make the commitment."
Seeing that Formula 1 car in the flesh for the first time at Silverstone, right across from your headquarters. What were the emotions when you saw that car leave the garage?
GL: "Well, it was great. I was so pleased that a lot of our team-mates could see it there because we were doing the shakedown at Silverstone, which is where our UK base is. Our US bases are in Indianapolis and also in Charlotte, North Carolina. But for the UK base, people, it was a great opportunity and a really proud moment. Actually, it was the first-ever hand-built Cadillac Formula 1 car turn the wheel with Checo in the cockpit. And it was a great moment. But it's only the start. We've got a lot of work to do, as all the other teams have, both in the Barcelona shakedown and then the Bahrain test. And then our first race is coming very rapidly."
A quote that sometimes comes up when we talk to you is from your friend Mario Andretti. 'If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough.' So, are you feeling under control? And if so, are you going fast enough?
GL: "We're going as fast as we possibly can! I think it's a great quote from Mario. He's a true champion. I really enjoy talking with him. He has the energy of a champion and the competitive spirit of a champion as well. And there have been a few of his quotes along the way that I've lent on. And I think a lot of people in the team have as well. He's the guy who knows how to win. And ultimately, that's the objective of all teams."
You mentioned before there are a number of countdown clocks at your factories. A couple of them have already struck and you've made the deadlines. Are you on schedule to make the others?
GL: "Yes. Right at the start we said let's put a countdown clock in every room. I've even got one on my phone's lock screen. It counts down to whatever's next. We had one for fire-up, for homologation. We fired up last year. We went on the full car dyno. We've done the shakedown, the shakedown week in Barcelona. And then we've got the Bahrain test. All of these are deadlines. And the countdown clocks, well, I guess they've worked because we only got the entry in March, so we were up against super tight timelines. But I'm really proud that the team has hit every single one. And I've said before with confidence that we're a team that's on schedule and we remain on schedule, which I think is a huge achievement for everyone in the team."
Of course, you can't possibly know what everybody else will be doing. So internally, when will 2026 be a good season for Cadillac?
GL: "When the flag drops in Abu Dhabi, we'll be able to look back and see. It is a voyage into the unknown for all of the teams with the new regulation set, the new power units. It's going to be kind of a new way of racing. And it's very, very difficult to set absolute objectives in a situation like that. But we constantly analyse every single thing that we do. I think this is a team game. And the key thing about team games is to instil absolute honesty within the team with honest feedback. If we make mistakes somewhere, these mistakes can happen. And the key thing is to have that absolute honesty. We're all in the team. We're all in together. We help each other. That's how the best teams work. And we're trying to build a really, really good team. So we will be self-critical, but with the right reasons at heart."
You're taking on the established powers but you're also taking on Ford, which is obviously a rival of GM. We saw there was some needle already between a few executives, Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss and Ford executive chairman Bill Ford, which was quite amusing. Is that a good thing for the sport?
GL: "There's been a healthy rivalry between GM and Ford for years and years. They've even made a Hollywood movie about it. So it's real and it's there. And we're taking a very different approach. GM has ownership in our team, so that's quite a different approach, as far as I know, to how Ford are approaching it. But we have GM DNA throughout the team because, as I said, they're part owners. And I'm sure that rivalry will continue. We've seen many times in Formula 1, it's actually the fans like to see some rivalry, as long as it doesn't go too far, obviously. I think it's just another layer of interest in F1."
You've really made a conscious decision to go after the US market with the Super Bowl halftime ad that's coming up to reveal your livery. We're seeing Valtteri and Checo, your drivers, everywhere on YouTube in all sorts of shows...
GL: "Yeah, the Super Bowl thing, I think it's just so cool. Why not? We said to everyone when we were looking to come in as a new team that we wanted to bring new fans along with us on the journey. There are few things more American than the Super Bowl. It's such a huge event. It's a cultural event and it brings together sport, music, culture. And it's a way of attracting new fans as well. I don't think any other Formula 1 team has done anything quite like it in the past. We're just bringing something new and if it attracts new fans to the sport that we love, then it's a good thing."
Now, it feels like every time we speak, another 50 people have joined in the meantime. Can we put you on the spot? What's the headcount at the moment?
GL: "A very good question, because it changes so fast. It's well over 500. I would say UK and US combined it must be approaching 600 or so now and it just continues to build all the time. The focus has now shifted more to the US. We're building our headquarters in Indianapolis, so a lot of our recruitment will be focused in Indianapolis from this point onwards. The recruitment at the Silverstone facility is really quite mature now. And it's great to see the whole team kind of coming together."
You've mentioned before that you've had over 140,000 applicants, so you've obviously had a good selection to sign fantastic people from. But how do you make these 500 people that probably never worked together, come together as one unit in such a short timeframe? It must be a huge challenge.
GL: "It is, but we keep things simple. We have four very core key values that we instil in people. We hire people based on the values as opposed to the technical ability, if you like, because we can teach or improve technical ability, but we can't really change people's approach. And so we lean heavily on our core values. And our objective is pretty clear. We want this to be the team that everybody wants to join, people are proud to be in and want to stay. We hire with a particular view of a particular kind of person, and that's what makes it easier to gel the team together. Yeah. And finally, just a few weeks before the season starts, about a month before Melbourne, maybe a little bit longer."
Your big debut in Melbourne is approaching fast. What's the feeling? Is it apprehension, excitement, nerves?
GL: "A mixture of everything, I think, which is natural. If you didn't have an element of nervousness, it means that you don't really care, and I do care. Apprehension, because it is a big challenge. This is the pinnacle of world motorsport. But excitement as well. Bringing a new team is such a cool thing. We're bringing more cars, more drivers, more action. We want to contribute. But also, we have a race a week after in Shanghai. And then there's another one a couple of weeks after. I'm also very aware that this is really just the start of the competitive journey of Cadillac Formula 1 team in F1, so there's excitement about that as well. It's a mixture of all those emotions."
