Cadillac began the 2026 Formula 1 season by building a new team from scratch under the direction of team principal Graeme Lowdon. The British executive outlined a management philosophy centered on servant leadership and core values as the organization scales its operations for competition.

Lowdon serves as the team principal for Cadillac's Formula 1 team, bringing previous experience as team principal for the Virgin and Marussia Formula 1 teams. He holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in mechanical engineering. General Motors collaborates with American motorsport organization TWG Motorsports through the latter's British subsidiary, TWG Cadillac Formula 1 Team Limited. Cadillac was established in 1902 and is expected to become a power unit manufacturer starting in 2029.

The scale of the new operation involves more than 300 people working on the project, according to Lowdon. Managing such a large group without existing processes presented a challenge. "All management's difficult at the end of the day. Managers are not paid to let the inevitable happen. We're paid to make a difference. When it's a new team, you're literally starting from scratch. There's nothing you can rely on. There's no ways of working, there's no processes, no people, no infrastructure, no assets, no nothing. You have to do everything from scratch," he said.

To address these structural needs, Lowdon emphasized that Cadillac's management structure is modeled after NASA's Apollo program. He noted that the space agency managed multiple teams across locations with a focus on peer-to-peer communication and mission-driven goals. He mentioned that he looked to NASA’s Apollo missions for inspiration in managing the team, particularly for their ability to handle tight deadlines, high technical complexity, and multiple locations. He stated that he avoids a military approach in leadership, instead favoring a mission control concept where employees are empowered to act based on shared values and understanding of the team's mission.

He described his leadership approach as one where he provides structure, focus, and energy to the team, rather than micromanaging or dictating tasks to individuals. "My approach to management is, as a leader, you provide only three things, which is some structure so that people understand how they operate within the team. Some focus so that people understand what it is that they need to spend their time on, because we have a limited resource. And then some energy as well, because this is a really, really demanding sport and nobody else is going to provide the energy as well. So those three things I think are really important in any part of management, he said."

This framework relies on hiring experts who excel in their specific disciplines. I don't tell anyone actually what to do, that's why they're hired. They're hired because they know that they're really, really good at their discipline. My job is to provide those other things, he said.

He explained that his role involves solving problems that staff cannot handle independently. Because my job is to help solve the things that they can't do, which tends to be the small percentage but very important and difficult bits, he added.

He said that Cadillac's leadership philosophy includes hiring based on values rather than technical ability, as he believes values are harder to teach and more critical for long-term success. I think it's about the proper understanding of what makes a high-performance team, and it's all about the foundations. We try and hire people based on their fit with our values, not necessarily their technical ability or achievement. Again, there's that old saying, it's better to have a thousand enemies outside the tent than one enemy inside the tent kind of thing, and it's like that. You've got to build a team where everyone understands the values and share them, and everyone works for each other as well. Then got foundations of a high-performance team, he said.

Cadillac established four core values for the team: bold ambition, excellence in execution, leadership and innovation, and all one team. He connected the value of bold ambition to the ownership structure. That is very much a reflection of Cadillac and TWG's ownership. That doesn't mean arrogance. It means, it's good to have an ambition and you can embrace that ambition. There's nothing wrong with that, he said.

He linked leadership and innovation to the brand's history. That again is something that's a reflection of Cadillac's 120-odd years of innovation. And Formula 1 is a sport that really rewards innovation as well. So we try and create an environment where that leadership and innovation is seen as a good thing, he said.

The concept of all one team draws from external management theories. John Wooden, the basketball coach, who comes out with all of the best quotes on management, and I'll probably get this wrong, but I'll paraphrase it. He said, it's better to have a player that makes the team great than it is to have a great player. And so we capture that with this concept of all one team. Nobody's bigger than the team and this is a team game, he said.

He also emphasized the need for internal debate. As a team principal I expect to be challenged by those people. There's no point just hiring people who think the same way and say 'yes, yes'. Because all that happens is everyone has a nice time and then they realize their last, he said.

He summarized the dynamic between leadership and staff by defining the flow of responsibility. When I'm talking to people within our team, I make it abundantly clear to them that they don't work for me, I work for them," he said. "They do the rest that I can't do. I've found it one of the easiest ways to explain it is to make it very clear to them that they don't work for me, I work for them. And that's how high-performing teams, in my view, progress. He concluded that providing the right foundation allows staff to perform effectively.

Everything is built on that, to get the right people and get the best people you possibly can. Get some really simple stuff and they'll fly, they'll absolutely fly. Or you can cage people in and tell them what to do. That tends not to work, he said.

The demands of the sport require personal sacrifice from staff members. It's true, but there are significantly worse jobs where you don't see your family. I think anyone who's in Formula 1 in one of these positions, actually their family tend to be really proud of what they're doing. It is hectic and everyone in the team has to sacrifice a lot. You notice it in particular with, children grow up. They tend to do it incredibly fast and you blink and then kind of almost miss it. But equally, you have a lot of really special moments as well, so you can balance that out," he said."

Why It Matters

Cadillac's entry as a new constructor requires building an entire organization from scratch without existing processes or infrastructure. Team principal Graeme Lowdon addresses this by implementing a servant leadership model where management supports specialized experts rather than dictating tasks. This approach prioritizes hiring for alignment with four core values over technical ability to establish the foundations of a high-performance team. The strategy aims to coordinate over 300 staff members through shared mission goals instead of traditional command structures.