Graeme Lowdon: getting Cadillac on-track in F1

F1 Beyond The Grid

karenellenbevan

Leisure, Sports News, News, Sports, Technology, Automotive

4.8 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Six months before their first race, the new Cadillac Formula 1 Team is already moving fast. The drivers have been signed, the car is being developed on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and engineers are running simulations to prepare for Grand Prix racing.

Leading Cadillac to the Formula 1 grid is Team Principal Graeme Lowdon, who knows how to launch a brand-new team. He did it in 2010 with Virgin Racing, which raced at the back of the grid and was graced by the talent of the late Jules Bianchi.

Graeme tells Tom Clarkson how his experience led to a job with Cadillac, how the team won its place in F1, and the incredible preparation work happening as the clock ticks towards Cadillac’s debut at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix. He explains why Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez are the perfect drivers for the team, and why he admires Cadillac reserve driver Colton Herta for swapping IndyCar for a shot at racing in F1.

This episode is sponsored by:

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Bit Defender, team partner of Ferrari.
0:04.4	Visit Bitdefender.com to learn more about how BitDefender supports Ferrari to stay ahead of cyber threats
0:10.3	and how you can make your digital life safer.
0:19.4	Why did one of the biggest car brands in the world choose Graham Loudon to launch its brand
0:25.2	new Formula One team? Because he knows how to do it.
0:30.7	If you're going to do this, you just have to start the team now without the entry.
0:34.9	Because if you wait for the entry, there won't be enough time to build a team.
0:39.5	That decision without an entry is going to cost hundreds of millions at risk.
0:44.7	You can't half start building an F1 team, you've just got to do it.
0:48.5	After years of work, Cadillac's place on the grid was confirmed at the start of this year.
0:54.0	Now the countdown is on.
0:56.0	F1's newest team aren't racing yet, but they're already moving fast.
1:01.0	We've got 60, 70 engineers running this entire race weekend, exactly as it would be as if we were
1:07.8	competing, except our car is in the simulator in Charlotte.
1:11.7	We have massive respect for the teams that we're going to race against.
1:14.5	They're hugely skilled, hugely competitive, and partly the way of us showing our respect is
1:20.2	the amount of effort we're trying to put in to make sure that we want to compete with them.
1:29.4	Welcome, everyone. I'm Tom Clarkson and this is F1 Beyond the Grid.
1:35.3	Back in 2010, Graham Loudon launched Virgin Racing, a team with a small budget, which raced at the
1:41.8	back of the grid and was graced by the huge talent of
1:45.1	the late Jules Bianchi. Cadillac is a different proposition. Backed by General Motors, they have
1:51.4	more resources and they value experience. That's why they chose Graham to run the team and proven
	...

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