Cadillac Formula 1 team principal Graeme Lowden has given the first indication of how the team intends to select drivers for its debut next year.
He said the team entered by US carmaking giant General Motors will give serious consideration to running an American driver, but only if they prove competitive enough.
“We’ll definitely select on merit,” Lowden told media including RaceFans today. “Formula 1’s not a playground. This is the pinnacle of world motorsport so, for sure, we need to select drivers on merit.”
The FIA and Formula 1 confirmed last week Cadillac will enter the championship in 2026. Although many drivers are already under contract for 2026, several multiple race winners lost their race seats last year.
“Luckily for us there are a lot of good drivers out there,” Lowden acknowledged. “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.”
Lowden acknowledged the speculation that the US team would prefer to have at least one driver from America. There are no US drivers on the grid at present.
“Personally, I see no reason why an American driver can’t be selected on merit,” he said. “It’s certainly something I think the fans would like to see and I see no reason why that can’t happen.”
| Become a RaceFans supporter and
“Just because someone’s American doesn’t mean that they can’t be a good Formula 1 driver,” he added. “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.”
There are few American drivers with the necessary FIA superlicence points which would allow them to compete in F1. One of the few, Logan Sargeant, lost his drive with Williams in the middle of last year, and Lowden believes he is not looking to return to F1.
“Logan, from my understanding, is no longer involved in motorsport,” he said. “He’s an American but no we haven’t had any conversations with him.”
US IndyCar driver Colton Herta has been linked to the team before, and Cadillac’s consultant Mario Andretti has named him as a potential target. However his lack of superlicence points rules him out for the time being, Lowden acknowledged.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and
“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.
“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.”
Another driver who lost his F1 race seat last year, Zhou Guanyu, has a connection to Lowden via his management team. Lowden praised Zhou’s performance but insisted he will not be given preferential treatment when it comes to selecting the team’s drivers.
Go ad-free for just £1 per month
>> Find out more and sign up
“Zhou has done an exceptionally good job under difficult circumstances over the last couple of years. 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,” he added. “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.”
| Become a RaceFans supporter and
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Formula 1
Browse all Formula 1 articles
