When Cadillac scored its official Formula 1 spot for 2026, most folks had no clue just how massive, or how bold, Back in 2023, this whole thing felt like a long shot.
A couple of rumors. A few GM suits in a boardroom. And maybe one wild dream on a napkin.
Now?
The doors are swinging wide open on what might be the boldest American Formula 1 move ever.
And Cadillac isn’t treating it like a race team — they’re calling it a mission. They’re comparing it, pretty openly, to NASA’s Apollo program.
From Three People to a 600 Personel?
THATS MASSIVE YEAR? Just last year, the Cadillac F1 effort was basically three people trying to figure it all out.
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Now? They’re scaling like mad. Nearly 600 engineers, designers, and race staff are working like crazy to hit the grid by early 2026, with Australia likely as their first showdown, are they preparing title fight for their first first season, just like Brawn in 2009?
Graeme Lowdon, who once ran Marussia, is now in charge. He’s been through this before, but even he sounds stunned.
“We’re about two-thirds staffed,” he said. “By race day 2026? We’ll be close to 600. It’s full speed right now.”
Split Between Silverstone and Small-Town Indiana
The future factory will be in Fishers, Indiana — tapping deep into U.S. engineering talent.
But for now? Most of the action is across the pond — tucked away in six plain-looking buildings just a stone’s throw from Silverstone, the old heart of F1.
In those grey boxes?
- A design center
- A machine shop
- Production lines
- And a logistics hub, moving parts faster than a pit stop
It’s not glamorous yet. But it’s real. And it’s growing by the day.
“We’ve already drawn up over 6,000 parts,” Lowdon shared. “Signed 30 new suppliers this week alone.”
Massive Data like Nasa Level… Impressive!
This isn’t just about cars and garages. Cadillac’s pushing serious digital horsepower behind the scenes:
425 laptops already handed out
6,000+ IT orders filled
5 petabytes (yep, 5 million GB) of fluid dynamics data simulated
To put that in perspective? That’s nearly half of Netflix’s full catalog — all dedicated to airflow around a virtual race car.
“Most of our systems didn’t even exist when we started,” Lowdon said. “We’re kinda building the plane while we’re flying it.”
Mission Control, They want to show more to the world!
Managing this much chaos across Indiana, Charlotte, Michigan, and the UK? Cadillac scrapped the usual corporate flowcharts.
Instead, they built what Lowdon calls “mission control.” Think NASA in the ’60s , no red tape, just fast decisions.
“It’s not about who reports to who,” he explained. “If an engineer in Indiana needs something from the UK team, they just call them. No bottlenecks. No delays.”
In Formula 1, that’s pretty unheard of.
But with so many moving pieces? Maybe it’s the only way.
The U.S. Isn’t Just the Flag, It’s more than that!!!
Basing the operation in Indiana isn’t just a patriotic gesture. It’s smart.
Lowdon believes F1 has ignored a huge pool of American engineering talent for too long.
“People forget — the U.S. put men on the moon,” he said. “There’s top-tier talent here. We’re tapping into it.”
Right now, they’re hiring F1 vets near Silverstone. But long-term? Fishers, Indiana is home base.
Caddillac F1 2026 drivers?
Who’ll be in the car when it finally hits the track?
Well, nothing’s confirmed. But whispers are getting louder.
Names like Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, and Mick Schumacher have all been floated. Cadillac hasn’t said much — at least not yet.
“We know the driver market,” Lowdon hinted. “But when you’re building from scratch like this… drivers come later.”
Meanwhile, work on Cadillac’s own GM power unit is underway — split between Michigan and Charlotte.
This Isn’t Just Another Team – Let’s be real
From the outside, this might look like another entry joining the F1, and they are in for something, something MORE!
But behind the scenes? It’s something different.
They’re not just racing. They’re making a statement. That an American team, built the American way, can take on the sport’s biggest giants.
And maybe, just maybe, this is how legends begin.
