Cadillac details ‘enormous’ F1 expansion after 143,000 job applications

Cadillac F1 boss Graeme Lowdon is accelerating plans to expand the team’s rapidly growing Formula 1 operation as preparations for its debut gather pace.

The squad made its way into the grid this season after a turbulent admission process and is now looking to bolster its technical ranks.

Graeme Lowdon accelerates Cadillac F1 recruitment surge

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Having initially begun recruitment even before receiving formal approval to join the F1 grid, Cadillac continues to add to its workforce.

The squad’s recruitment drive continues with Lowdon revealing it has received almost 150,000 job applications.

“That whole process is enormous,” explained the Cadillac team principal.

“We had 143,000 applicants. We shortlisted over 9000 people, and had 6500 interviews or something.”

Joining the team was initially a leap of faith, but with three grands prix under its belt, the project now offers potential recruits something far more tangible.

“This team of people, it’s quite a small team of people,” he explained.

“I think they’ve actually done a really incredible job and I think it’s good that they get that recognition.

“But the team still needs to grow quite a bit and so we are looking to not reinforce, because we’ve still got lots of vacancies, so the team is still growing.

“You can only grow at a certain rate.”

“It’s not a small task to build a team,” he added.

“We went from a position of we didn’t even have an entry when some people were joining, to now people can look at the team.

“If they are in another team, they can even wander down the pit lane and have a look.

“It’s quite a small environment in Formula 1, and I think the word’s got out.

“One of our objectives was to make this the team that everyone wants to join.”

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Owned by TWG Group but carrying Cadillac branding, the squad operates across facilities in the United Kingdom and the United States.

An all-new facility has been constructed in Silverstone with efforts ongoing in the US to build out that side of the squad, too.

“The key focus for recruitment, the bulk of our recruitment from this point onwards is going to be in the US,” Lowdon explained.

“There’s an awful lot happening on the US side of the operation.”

The challenge ahead is however not one of simply filling the vacancies, it’s developing cohesion within a team that is split across continents while in the thick of competition under the restrictions of a cost cap.

And it will do so in the public eye, while representing one of the largest car makers on the planet.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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