F1 2026: Cadillac overwhelmed after after getting 143,000 job applications

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F1 team overwhelmed after after getting 143,000 job applications

Cadillac are the new team on the grid in 2026

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 24 January 2026 11:57

Cadillac F1 team principal Graeme Lowdon has revealed just how hard it is to get a job in the sport.

The Brit is heading up the Cadillac team for their first season in the sport, with the American car manufacturer becoming the 11th team on the grid in 2026.

It's the first time since 2016 that there have been more than 10 teams on the grid, and the construction and development of the team in this current era of F1 is something that everybody is interested to see.

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They have managed to employ two highly experienced drivers in Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas for their first year in the sport, two men who have 16 grands prix victories between them.

But despite this, the team are still expecting to be running at the very back of the pack in 2026, with it being a monumental effort to even get onto the grid and compete, particularly considering their entry was only officially confirmed in November 2024.

Now, Lowdon has revealed just how many personnel that they have had to hire, admitting that the amount of applications that they received was almost 150,000, showing just how competitive the F1 job market is.

"We'd set a target of hiring 525 people by December 31 2025," Lowdon said at the Autosport Business Exchange. "We thought that was the minimum you needed just to turn up.

"So we advertised 595 positions, we had and acknowledged 143,265 applications, it was unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.

"We shortlisted 9051 people, and we interviewed just over 6500, and by December 31 we'd hired 520, so we're just a couple short.

"That in itself is just an enormous task that the other teams don't have to do. And then, we're building factories, I spend most of my time with hard hats on and construction boots or something like that.

"We're building factories, we're hiring people, oh and we're building a Formula 1 car! And then by the way we've got to go and compete against McLaren and Ferrari and people who know what they're doing."

Cadillac's first foray into F1

There is plenty of excitement about how the team will perform in 2026, particularly with their all-star driver lineup of Bottas and Perez.

But Lowdon has already tempered expectations, and we're not likely to see the full capability of the Cadillac team until their power unit partnership with General Motors begins in 2028.

In the meantime, they are using Ferrari power units, which is one less thing for the team to have thought about over the last 12 months.

With new regulations sweeping into the sport, 2026 is going to be difficult for all of the F1 outfits, but particularly one who have had to build a whole team from scratch.

F1 Cadillac Graeme Lowdon