The relentless pace of Formula 1 season has been firmly in the rearview mirror since the beginning of last month.
However, it was only the first week of March that Cadillac could finally get an official confirmation of the location on the grid in 2026, sign a commercial agreement (FOM) with F1, and ultimately talk publicly about its plans.
Five races have been held since then, with Cadillac team principal Graeme Loudon present in most of them, but they have been getting back on track and problems, and Red Bull driver changes have generally won the majority of headlines.
But it was no problem for Cadillac. There were many times when I ran out of the paddock to get ready to drive my first car in January 2026.
Lowdon’s existence is a product of how many meetings and discussions are held at Grands Prix, as it is a place where all stakeholders meet regularly. It was also important for Cadillac and TWG Motorsports to begin to get acquainted with paddocks. The team is eager to avoid showing up as a bunch of new faces in the last nine months.
“The focus is very broad and recruitment is very important at this point,” says Lodoon. “We average more than one person a day on our team, so we have weekly meetings at the factory every Wednesday morning, which is what we do, or at least, everyone there and people who are not there, are taking part remotely.
“We also welcome new starters. I think we were 14 this week. Recruiting is really important right now. Looking at the senior management team, there are still some roles we are trying to fill.
One of the latest additions is Pete Crolla, former director of Haas Sporting in the role of team manager, bringing the experience of establishing a new team and establishing the sport for a long time. This is very important from a Lowdon perspective. This is because employees need to be comfortable within the Formula One team, and “lives within the startup business to some extent.”
The speed of team growth means that the first Wednesday meeting was held by three people and currently has over 330 people.
And it’s a very specific business HR is signing up to. Many experienced names, such as former Renault technical director Nick Chester, or highly respected veteran Pat Simmons, are hired to give the project direction and know-how, but both have recent tenure within a large, established organization.
The situation inside the Cadillac is very different. This is because it appears to create its own structure that operates in multiple facilities in both the US and Europe. Not only are bricks and mortars, they also need to be installed on the wall.
“We’re building a few factories too,” says Lodon. “We are building a brand new flagship headquarters for Indiana fishermen, and it is really very special and we can’t wait for people to see what the facility looks like.
“We are also developing a Silverstone facility, so there is a huge project underway there. There is also a new factory being built on the power unit side for the power unit project.
“Many construction is underway, and you’ll need to buy a lot when you set up your Formula 1 team. You’ll need to go and look at the accounts of other teams, look at the balance sheet and make sure you have the hundreds of millions of dollars of equipment needed to run a Formula 1 team at the highest level.
The fishermen are going to become the “world-class aerospace standard manufacturing facility” that will be appearing online provisionally early next year. Silverstone will become a European logistics hub, but also includes the manufacturing capabilities and aerodynamic engineering and development work for wind tunnel models used at Toyota’s facility in Cologne.
Having a multi-faceted team setup brings many challenges, and while Lowdon admits it is not the standard for Formula 1 across European borders, lessons are being learned from the aerospace world to make the structure as efficient as possible. Getting these lessons and turning them into actual processes takes time.
The target set by Lodoon is to make Cadillac the most rewarding place to work in Formula 1. He admits that it is a difficult question, especially as many staff members have passed through the doors on a show of trust that teams will win spots on the grid.
When confirmation is made, Lowdon thank all staff members for their faith in the project for hand-signed letters. He took several days to complete, but then marked the moment when the button was pressed to allow him to start working on multiple areas that he had previously not been able to activate.
“What people don’t realize is that despite the regulations being published to F1, anyone can visit the FIA website and download sports and technical and financial regulations. “So, existing teams.
“We denied access to all of that very correctly, as it wasn’t a Formula 1 team. But designing a car without that information is very difficult.
“A good example is information about tires. It’s only available to competitors. So, once you announce your entry, it was a door opening for so many information.
“But before that… for example, last year we were very active in wind tunnels, but we couldn’t even get the tires for wind tunnels from Pirelli.
“If it’s better for every team to make their own tires, then every team does that. And no one does that. They get them from Pirelli.
“Once the entries are confirmed, we are in a position to do things by doing it with more accurate, detailed and relevant future.”
There are certain items that are more fluid, such as driver negotiations. Lodon says he couldn’t commit until the entry was official. If another team is willing to sell a car from at least two years ago and the FIA approves it, Cadillac can go to test the previous car (TPC) that will be run later this year.
However, other deadlines are set on stones, and Lowdon says it will be thick and faster to the point that the team’s first full creation will hit the track for testing before next season.
“There’s a calendar we’re working on, and this is very detailed,” he says. “We’ve already passed a certain design freeze, and usually this is something like suspension pickups, etc., something like this, and more. On that calendar, there are other important dates that are important.
“The aero freezes, the design freezes, and that leads to the first fire, the first body fit, the first car’s dyno, and then the first shakedown, etc. There’s a small advent calendar from now until January.
The driver lineup, rebuy and car design are all eye-catching developments that will excite fans, but they are also rarely the tip of the iceberg. While who knows how fast the first car will be, the Cadillac project is currently operating at a pace that is as relentless as the season itself.