Cadillac boss vows to pick F1 line-up “on merit” as driver choices teased

Cadillac F1 team principal Graeme Lowdon has vowed to choose his first driver line-up on “merit” amid speculation that they want an American driver.

Last week, Cadillac’s entry to join the grid as F1 officially confirmed there will be an 11th team.

It’s been a long wait for the American brand, which has been eyeing a spot on the grid for the past few years.

Initially, under the Andretti guise, Cadillac will join the grid in 2026, backed by American car giant General Motors.

Lowdon, who was part of the Manor F1 Team in the early 2010s, spoke to media, including Crash.net, on Monday afternoon to give an update on Cadillac’s progress.

Lowdon also addressed the driver situation, with Cadillac yet to announce their line-up for next year.

He insisted that they will select drivers on “merit” but conceded they’re in a fortunate position with a “lot of good drivers out there”.

“We will definitely select on merit,” Lowdon said on Monday. “F1 is not a playground. This is the pinnacle of world motorsport so, for sure, we need to select drivers on merit.

“Luckily for us there are a lot of good drivers out there. Unfortunately, we’ve not been able to be in the driver market until the entry is confirmed, so it’s a little bit too early to go too much into any detail, because it’s only now that we’re able to have meaningful conversations. But for sure we want to have drivers that can contribute to the overall programme.”

The American F1 driver question

It’s been widely speculated that Cadillac will want an American driver in one of their seats.

Their options are limited, though, with only Colton Herta the viable choice currently.

On the topic of an American driver, Lowdon said: “Personally, I see no reason why an American driver can’t be selected on merit. It’s certainly something I think the fans would like to see and I see no reason why that can’t happen.”

“Just because someone’s American doesn’t mean that they can’t be a good Formula 1 driver. We’re not starting a team for the short-term.

“The partners have made this commitment into Formula 1 very much for the longer-term. We spoke fairly early on in the process about our desire to also improve opportunities and the ability for the drivers to come through as well.

“We will be looking at some form of academy programme. So looking forward, I see no reason why we won’t have American drivers in the team on merit.”

Herta is currently competing in IndyCar and nearly secured a drive with AlphaTauri - now Racing Bulls in 2023 - but didn’t have the required super licence points.

Lowdon acknowledged that the super licence point situation could be a factor in Herta not getting a drive again in F1.

“He doesn’t have the required number of super licence points and if that were to remain the case then that’s clearly an impediment for him. We can’t choose a driver that doesn’t have the points, that’s just the real world that we live in and we just have to take that into account,” Lowdon explained

“Does his lack of reaching this or lack of being at the threshold for the superlicence in any way affect his ability to drive a race car? No, he’s an incredibly talented driver and so, for sure, it’s not shock news that we would be looking to consider Colton alongside a whole bunch of other drivers as well.

“Certainly he’s not the only one actually in that situation, and he won’t be the last, where there’s some uncertainty due to superlicence points, But we just have to live with that, that’s the regulation, we just have to respect it.”

Zhou linked addressed

Zhou Guanyu is one of a number of experienced options on the sidelines for 2026.

Valtteri Bottas is also available after failing to keep his seat at Sauber, while Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo are all available.

Magnussen and Ricciardo are unlikely to want a return to the F1 grid in 2026, especially to a team likely to be at the back.

Lowdon spoke about Zhou, with whom he has close ties, given that the Chinese driver is part of his management team.

Despite their prior relationship, Lowdon clarified that there would be no favouritism” towards Zhou.

“Zhou has done an exceptionally good job under difficult circumstances over the last couple of years,” he added. “What makes it actually quite useful for me is he doesn’t necessarily need to explain the background of his abilities because I’ve had a front row seat to see all that, so that’s a benefit.

“There’s the correct checks and balances in place, so there’s no favouritism in any particular direction towards him or any other driver that we may have involvement with, as you know we’ve been involved with other drivers on the grid as well.”

“We’re there to do a job so we’ll select drivers on merit. There’s some really good ones out there, Zhou included. Now we’re actually able to actually engage and see what the best driver line-up will be for the team.”